Lilith
by Ithunn
Summary: Artemis and Kol, reunited after 300 years, just want to live in peace. But with threats to the Mikaelson family around every turn, it might be a little time before they can get some. Kol/OC
1. Chapter 1

It was times like these when Artemis really wished she hadn't ever met a vampire. They had only come into existence about a thousand years ago, and she had encountered her first one only 800 years ago. Yet, it seemed as though every dark moment in her life, she could tie, one way or another, to a vampire. Including this moment. Though nothing had gone bad yet, Artemis couldn't imagine anything good happening in the near future, especially when Damon Salvatore was involved.

They had met about a century ago, and Damon had helped her to survive a tricky situation. In return, she had granted him a favor, which he decided to cash in tonight. Now, she was standing at the front door of the Salvatore Boarding House, the foreboding home of Damon and his brother, Stefan.

The door opened before she had a chance to knock. The man on the other side was unfamiliar to her, with a brooding expression on his face. Artemis almost wanted to laugh at what a stereotypical vampire that the guy appeared to be, especially considering the fact that he was shirtless.

"Artemis!" Damon called, appearing behind Mr. Broody. "So glad you could join us."

Mr. Broody's eyebrows raised. "This is Artemis?" He took in the woman's 5' 6" frame, wavy blonde hair, and grey eyes, and then turned to glance at his brother. "You're telling me that your backup for this dinner is Malibu Barbie?"

"If by 'Malibu Barbie' you mean 'oldest, strongest, and wisest creature on this planet,' then yes," Damon answered his brother smoothly. "Stefan, meet Artemis. Artemis, meet my baby bro, Stefan."

"Charmed," the blonde girl grumbled, crossing her arms.

There was a split second between the time that Stefan's eyes narrowed, and when he leapt forward to test her reflexes. In the next split second, she was crouched down, her arms raised so that she could catch Stefan and launch him a good twenty feet away from the house. The brooding vampire growled as he landed on his feet, ready to attack again, until he heard Damon clapping, and saw the dangerous gleam in Artemis's eyes.

"Congratulations, Artemis, I think you passed my brother's test," he quipped sarcastically, before turning to his brother. "Now, can you put on a shirt and can we go to dinner? We have a fake truce to negotiate."

Neither brother noticed the tremors that began in Artemis's hand. She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her leather jacket, hoping that her strength wasn't going to be needed during dinner. The tremors were just the beginning, and would only get worse. She needed to feed, and soon.

* * *

"Niklaus, our guests have arrived," Elijah announced, upon opening the door. "And it seems that one of them has brought a plus one."

Artemis stood just behind the two Salvatore brothers, her hands still tucked into her pockets. While the brothers smiled at their host, she opted to keep a neutral expression on her face. It was a safer option than any one of the negative expressions she could have pulled at the thought of spending her entire night in a vampire den.

"This is Artemis," Damon said, gesturing to the blonde woman. "She's an old friend that was passing through town. It would have been rude to make her eat alone, and I told her that anywhere we were welcome, she was welcome too."

Elijah nodded slowly, a tight smile on his face. "Of course, the more the merrier, right?" he replied, although his smile didn't meet his eyes. "A pleasure to meet you, Artemis. My name is Elijah, Elijah Mikaelson.

She dipped her head once in recognition of his greeting, struggling to keep the expression on her face neutral. She hadn't heard the surname Mikaelson in a while, not since… No, she wasn't going to go there, not tonight. Mikaelson was a common enough name that it was probably merely a coincidence. Sure, they looked alike, but there was no way that this random man in front of her could be related to _him_. She refused to believe it. Instead of allowing her mind to wander, she simply followed Stefan, Damon, and Elijah further into the house, where another man was waiting.

"Damon, Stefan, Elijah tells me that you seek an audience," the new man greeted. His eyes shifted from the brothers to the woman behind them. "And you've brought a lovely blonde for dessert, how generous."

Artemis glowered at him. "You put your fangs anywhere near me and you might as well kiss them goodbye," she said in a low, dangerous tone.

The new man simply laughed. "Very bold," he commended. "Very bold, all of you. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men, shall we?"

"It's better to indulge him," Elijah reminded as he passed them to stand by his brother.

When Stefan took a step towards the smiling man, Artemis felt the muscles in her legs tense. "I didn't come here to eat, Klaus," he stated. "In fact, I didn't want to come here at all, but I was told I had to, because you would hear us out."

Klaus's smile widened into a smug grin. "Well, we can sit and eat, like civilized men and women, or I can reach down your throats, and pull out your insides," he threatened casually, moving to sit down at the far side of the table. "The choice is yours."

The brothers stood for a few seconds, before Artemis growled at them to sit. She had been in this house for all of five minutes, and was looking to get out as quickly as possible. In terms of vampires, she had decided that Klaus was probably pretty bad news, and wanted to deal with him as little as possible. He was a cocky, arrogant son of a bitch with a dash of sociopath, a dangerous combination. Thankfully, the brothers listened, and took their seats at the table.

"Please, Artemis, take my seat," Elijah told her, offering his chair. "It would be improper to make a lady stand through the whole meal."

Artemis shook her head. "It would be improper of me to take a seat at the table, Elijah," she responded. "This is not my discussion, and I hold no stake in it. I'm perfectly fine to stand and observe."

"Very well," Elijah replied, taking his seat at the table.

She allowed her mind to wander while the vampires talked. Most of her time was spent admiring the room that she was in. There were no lights on the ceiling, she noticed, only a chandelier that hung over the table. Most of the light came from wall sconces or table lamps. Her mind plotted exit strategies in case things went south. The windows were all covered by heavy drapes, so escaping though them would likely be difficult. Her best option would be the nearby front door, but several other doorways in the room offered alternative options.

It was the phrase "one more word about Elena, and this dinner is over" that snapped her attention back to the present. It had been Stefan who had said it, she was pretty sure. Damon had mentioned a girl named Elena once. Both Stefan and Klaus had smiles on their faces, although neither was sincere, and Artemis suspected that the tension between the two was the most likely to boil over.

She continued to observe the party before her more carefully, but drew back into her own thoughts when Tatia was mentioned, and Klaus called her "the originator of the Petrova line," or something along those lines. She smiled at the thought that they believed Tatia was the first of the doppelgangers. All of the older beings in the supernatural world, the ones who had been around for millennia, knew that Amara was the first, with her lover Silas, and that she had been turned into the anchor for the Other Side by the scorned witch Qetsiyah. Hell, you could ask any dryad, if you could find one, and they'd sigh and spin you the most romantic tale about the first doppelgangers.

But now that she knew about Tatia, the basis for the spell of immortality that created the vampires made more sense. She had known that Tatia had been used for the spell, but not that she was a doppelganger. With the missing piece of the puzzle finally put into place, she began to wonder if it was choice, or simply coincidence, that resulted in one of Amara's doppelgangers providing the blood for the spell.

Maybe this night wouldn't be too bad.

But then again, she probably spoke too soon, as Klaus began to rise.

"Let's say I do leave her here, under your protection," the blonde man said. Artemis could only assume he meant Elena. "What then? How long before one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies caught between your feuding? You see, each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is the two of you."

A smile came across Damon's face, while Stefan's face remained neutral. Neither one of them believed Klaus, or appeared to listen to the points that he made. As much as Artemis did not like the vibes she got from Klaus, just simply going off some of the stories she had heard over the centuries, he was right. With love triangles, at least one person usually wound up dead. Or undead. Either way, it wasn't very pretty at all. Of course, modern times were much less dangerous for secret trysts, but with vampires and humans combined, there were almost no favorable outcomes.

"I'm going to get some air," Damon said, trying to brush off the truths that Klaus had just dropped on them. "Artie, keep an eye on things, will ya?" he added before walking out of the room. Artemis just rolled her eyes.

"Let me deal with this, older brother to older brother," Elijah said, before rising and following Damon out.

That left Klaus and Stefan to stare at one another. Artemis felt like she could cut the tension with a rusty spoon.

Klaus then went for a drink, grabbing one of his waitresses and sinking his fangs into her neck. Artemis was not a fan of watching vampires feed, and simply picked at her nails to distract herself from the grotesque slurping sounds from the other side of the room.

"Well, I guess the only reason you agreed to this evening, Klaus, is to drive a wedge between me and my brother," Stefan said, rising to his feet. Artemis could feel the muscles in her legs coiling up again, ready to intervene in a split second.

Oh no, you're doing that well enough on your own," Klaus corrected smugly. "Because of Elena, you're going to lose your brother, and you'll only have yourself to blame."

Damon and Elijah chose that moment to reenter the room, the dark-haired vampire's arms thrown wide open. "What do you say, Klaus?" Damon called out. "It's time for you to put something on the table. We've made out offer, now you counter."

Artemis moved slowly to the table as Klaus made his offer, each word coming out of his mouth seeming to agitate the brothers more and more. When he offered his hand to Stefan, only to have Stefan reject his deal, Artemis went into action. In the blink of an eye, she was between the two men, hands on their chests, and throwing them against the walls. Klaus was the first to recover, charging at her in full force. She artfully dodged each one of the punches that he threw her way, using her smaller stature and flexibility to her advantage.

It was when he stabbed her with the fire poker that he finally gained the advantage. Artemis cried out in pain as the poker went through her abdomen, and she fell to her knees. Her trembling hands wrapped around the metal shaft and weakly tugged. She could feel her body beginning to shut down, attempting to put all of her energy to healing her. It was like dying, but only temporarily. She gave one last feeble tug of the poker before her vision went black, her hands finally stilling.

* * *

There was silence for a brief moment as all four men looked at the woman lying on the ground, her blood pooling on the carpeting beneath her. Klaus was the first to recover, ripping the poker from her body and using it to break Stefan's kneecaps before holding his hands to the fire.

Damon was barely able to process what had happened to Artemis before he was agreeing to get the coffin.

"I'm sorry about your friend," Elijah told him as they exited the room. "A necessary casualty, I'm afraid."

"She'll be fine," he said with a shrug. "By the morning, she'll be a little sore, and probably royally pissed, but she'll be fine."

They quietly arranged the daggers on the silver platter, while the other three Original siblings looked on, blood bags in hand. Each was unaware of the events that had just transpired in the other room, and curious as to why their brother would team up with a strange vampire. All except Rebekah, of course, who knew the connection between the Salvatore family and her two older brothers.

As the siblings attacked Klaus, Damon carefully gathered Artemis's body in his arms, making sure that he was hiding her face from view. She had made it very clear that she wanted as few vampires to know about her existence as possible, and Damon was happy to oblige her in this instance.

None of the Mikaelson siblings gave Damon, Stefan, or Artemis a second glance on their way out, except for Kol. The youngest of the Original brothers looked at the girl in Damon's arms with great interest. There was something familiar about her, something about her hair, or the way that she smelled, that triggered a flood of memories from a different time, a happier time. But he shook the memories from his head. There was no way it could really be her, after all these years. She was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

When Artemis awoke, she found herself lying on the couch in the living room of the Salvatore Boarding House, a blanket draped haphazardly over her body. She sat up slowly, grunting in pain as the muscles in her abdomen protested her every move. Artemis imagined that she looked about as good as she felt right now. As she lifted up her shirt, she saw that she was right. There was a nasty, purplish red mark on her abdomen, right where the poker had gone through.

"Morning, sunshine," Damon said, sweeping into the room. He knelt down next to her, offering Aspirin and a glass of water. "How're you feeling?"

"I've been better," she mumbled, tossing back the drugs and the water in one swift gulp. "It's gonna be a while before I'm back to the top of my game."

The vampire shrugged. "Stay here and rest, then, before you head out to wherever it is you're going to go," he told her. "Stefan and I are heading over to Elena's for a little bit."

She nodded in acknowledgement, and the two brothers headed out, leaving Artemis to her own devices. Only after she heard the engine of the car fade off into the distance did she finally allow herself to fall back onto the couch and groan in pain. Klaus had really done a number on her. Although her body did not allow her to wake up until it had repaired itself, it often didn't wait until all the pain was gone. After most major injuries, she incredibly sore for days.

A knock on the door caught her attention. Sighing and gritting her teeth, Artemis pulled herself off the couch and shuffled to the door, biting back all of her moans and groans of pain that came with every movement. When she opened the door, she was mildly peeved to find that there was no one waiting on the other side, only a thick envelope lying on the ground, her name written across it in calligraphy. Wincing, she reached down to pick it up.

 _Please join the Mikaelson family this evening at seven o'clock for dancing, cocktails, and celebration_ , the invitation inside read. She frowned. One of the Mikaelsons had killed her last night, and now they were inviting her to a celebration? Curiously, she flipped the card over. _As an apology for my brother's behavior, please accept this invitation. –Elijah_. Ah. So the nicer brother was trying to make up for the meaner one's mistakes.

Artemis turned and shuffled back to the couch, struggling to find a comfortable position. The invitation to the party had been abandoned on a nearby coffee table. She couldn't go to a celebration that fancy. She didn't even own a semi-formal dress, much less a floor-length gown that she assumed the Mikaelson party required. Besides, one of the Mikaelsons had just killed her. Why would she show up if there was a chance she could be killed again?

Even just thinking about a fancy party with the Mikaelsons brought back the happy memories she had made with her husband. They had met in 1417, during the reign of King Henry V. Times were prosperous for England, and the brewer that Artemis worked for certainly took advantage of that. Her husband had come into the tavern one day, ordered a pint of ale, and started chatting her up. She was not sure of what had drawn her to him, or what had drawn him to her. She had only fallen in love a handful of other times in her life, but never this deeply.

With him, it had been different. It was as though they belonged together. The Greeks had believed that people were born with two heads, two hearts, four arms, and four legs, but they were ripped apart. Along with the physical tear, there was also a tearing of a soul, and humans would wander with half a soul until they found their other half. Thus, everyone had a soulmate. Artemis believed that he was hers.

They ran together for years, exploring the world and learning as much as they could about all things supernatural. Then, in 1700, they settled down in Cádiz in Spain. It was a beautiful town, and Artemis had loved it. Unfortunately, their happiness did not last long. Two years after they had shown up, someone had accused Artemis of witchcraft, and she was thrown into the sea to see if she could survive.

From what Eugenia, an actual witch in the village, later told her, her husband dove in the water after her and brought her back to the surface. According to her, he killed a bunch of villagers and then left.

This left Artemis devastated and heartbroken. Since then, she had found herself wandering around Europe, and eventually in the United States, where the worked in factories to make a living. Now, Artemis held a degree in education that she updated every year, and supported herself as a high school history teacher.

As the memories began to flow, she suddenly found herself getting very tired again. Closing her eyes, she could only hope that he would visit her in her dreams.

* * *

"Artemis!" she heard Damon shout, waking her up from her sleep. "Artemis, you got invited to this ball thing too?"

"It's an apology invite from Elijah," she mumbled in response, rubbing her eyes. "I'm not going. I don't have anything to wear."

"You're going," Damon argued. "The Original witch wants something from Elena, and I don't trust her as far as I can throw her."

"Esther Mikealson?" Artemis asked. Damon nodded in confirmation. "Then fuck no, I'm out. I don't like that woman, and I never will." She threw the blankets off of her and rose to her feet, preparing to gather her things and get the hell out of dodge. If there was one supernatural species that she truly had a love-hate relationship with, it was witches. She had heard the stories of Esther Mikealson, and the magic that she practiced. Artemis never wanted to be closer than a few towns from her.

"Wait, wait, wait," Damon said, rushing over to stand in front of her as she stood. He held his hands out defensively. "Just hold on. The goal is to keep Elena from seeing Esther. You'll be away from her the entire evening, I promise."

Artemis thought about this for a moment, before sighing and running a hand through her hair. There was a hint of desperation in his voice, as if he had some sort of plan to keep Elena and Esther separated, and it hinged on Artemis's presence. "Even if I wanted to go, I don't have anything to wear," she pointed out.

Damon smirked. "I can fix that."

* * *

Artemis had to admit that Damon had good taste when it came to dresses. Even if she didn't feel like 100%, she definitely looked like it. The simple maroon lace gown with Queen Anne neckline was slim fitting, and accented all of her best features. It was modest, refined, and poised, all qualities that Artemis sought to embody.

She had seen Elijah when she arrived at the Mikaelson house, and thanked him for the invitation. Elijah had simply requested that she save him a dance, to which she agreed. She also managed to avoid Klaus like the plague. She wasn't too keen on spending time around the people who murdered her.

Artemis now stood with Damon, talking to Carol Lockwood, who had become the mayor after her husband's untimely death. The pair went back and forth about whether or not the Original family was dangerous, while Artemis sipped her champagne idly, bored with the conversation and starting to wonder why she had allowed Damon to convince her to come in the first place, and why everyone in the town seemed to own a ball gown or tuxedo that they could don at a moment's notice.

"Mayor Lockwood," a painfully familiar voice cut in. "We haven't formally me. Kol Mikaelson." He kissed the back of the mayor's hand, causing the older woman to smile. "I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it."

Artemis froze, a flurry of emotions running through her mind. Her eyes were glued on the man in front of her, a man she hadn't seen since 1702, a man she hadn't stopped loving since 1417. There was no dominant emotion that took over the others she felt, so she simply stood still, her mouth hanging open, staring at her him.

"Damon Salvatore," she heard Damon say from next to her, although she never turned her head. "Have we met?"

"I've met a lot of people, and you don't particularly stand out," Kol replied with a smirk. "Except for the fact that you're standing next to my wife." He finally turned and met Artemis's eyes. "It's good to see you, darling. I assume you have been well?"

There was something about his casual demeanor, combined with the level of cockiness in his voice, that irritated Artemis. It had been 300 years, for crying out loud, and he acted as though it had been a week. "You bastard," she eventually choked out. It barely registered with her that she had crushed the champagne flute that she had been holding, causing both vampires to look at the mixture of blood and alcohol that was dripping down her arm. Artemis looked down at her hand, then back up the people she stood with, a false smile plastered on her face. "If you'll excuse me," she said softly, before turning and leaving to find a bathroom to bandage her bleeding hand.

She didn't see the shocked expression on Damon's face, or the hurt one on Kol's, as she left the room.

* * *

She was as beautiful as he remembered her to be. Artemis, his Artemis, the true love of his life, had been standing right there, next to another vampire, talking to the mayor of the town. He smiled at the bored expression on her face. She had always hated fancy parties, and making small talk with people. It was amazing how little had changed in the last 300 years.

He longed to hold her in his arms again. After the villagers in Spain had killed her without a second thought, or listened to her when she insisted that she was not a witch, Kol got angry. Artemis had made him see the good in humans, and had chastised him for his arrogance and violence. She had made him see why what he had been doing since he became a vampire was wrong. It was a cry for attention, and Artemis was the only one who listened.

After her death, he had gone on a rampage. He knew that she would wake again. Unfortunately, Mikeal had been close enough to try and respond. The next thing Kol knew, it was 1821, he was in a foreign nation, and his brother was apologizing for daggering him. Kol tried to make them pay. After that, he was going to scour the world for Artemis. He was daggered before that could happen, once again by his own brother.

In the early 1900s, Kol again tried to make his brother suffer by finally neutralizing him so he could leave and find Artemis. Once again, this did not happen.

And now, there she was, right in front of him. There were a lot of emotions that flickered across her face in rapid succession, most notably pain, sorrow, and anger. It took a moment for him to recover from the shock of her leaving with a bloodied hand. Kol quickly excused himself from the conversation to chase after her.

"Artemis!" he called, as soon as he could see her. "Artemis, darling, please wait!"

"Why should I wait for you any longer?" she shot back over her shoulder. "I waited 300 years, 300 years, Kol, and all I get is a 'trust you've been well?' I haven't been well, Kol, not since you abandoned me in Spain!"

"I didn't abandon you in Spain, not on purpose," he shouted back, getting closer to her. Her eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. "There was nothing that could get me to abandon you. My siblings, my father… they neutralized me for my own good, to keep me from attracting attention. All because I thought I lost you."

She was silent for a moment. "I searched the globe for you," she said quietly, not able to meet his eyes. Something in her voice made her seem small and fragile, and his heart broke looking at her. "I went to every witch I could find, used every tracking spell I could, but there was nothing, no one could find you. Even when you couldn't be found, I still kept up hope that you were out there somewhere, still alive, but at some point, it was just better to imagine that you were dead…" her voice trailed off.

Kol took a step closer, and she took a step back. "Why would it be better to imagine that I was dead, love?" he asked, scared of what her answer would be.

"Because if you were still alive and I couldn't find you, then maybe it was because you didn't want to be found by me," she said in a small voice that pained his heart. "It was better to imagine you dead than not wanting me."

He took another step forward, wanting nothing more than to hold her and show her that she was still the only one for him, but she took another step back. "There is nothing that you could do to make me not want you," he told her sincerely. "You are my soul mate."

She hesitated, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "I just… I need some time to process this," she whispered.

There was nothing he wanted more than to hold her and kiss her, but the more rational part of his mind told him that it was best to leave her be. He bowed respectfully to her, and returned to the party, leaving her to process for as long as she needed.

* * *

Artemis emerged from the bathroom just as Elijah was calling for everyone to gather. She had found some bandages and quickly wrapped her hand. It was not healing as quickly as she would have liked. In fact, it was still actively bleeding. She knew that she needed to feed soon, which just opened up a pit of dread in her stomach, except the pain in her stomach was more from the wound she had there, which was still not fully healed.

"Welcome, and thank you for joining us," Elijah said. Artemis watched as the five siblings positioned themselves on the stairs, joined by an older woman whose appearance sent shivers down Artemis's spine. _A witch_ , her mind told her. "You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if you could all please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."

She watched as the siblings descended down the stairs, and only turned for a brief moment to grab another flute of champagne. The cut on her hand was still hurting, and the alcohol seemed to dim the pain.

"May I have this dance, darling?" Kol asked, appearing behind her. She turned, her eyes wide in surprise. "You look absolutely stunning this evening, and it would be a shame not to see you on the dance floor."

Artemis hesitated before nodding and accepting Kol's outstretched hand. It was a like a shock went through her when they touched. Kol felt it too, as he tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and escorted her to the dance floor. Artemis could feel the envy roll off some of the other women in the crowd who wished they could dance with one of the rich siblings.

You know, I don't know all that much about the 21st century yet," Kol told her as they started dancing. "But, Rebekah has told me that courtship today starts with an unchaperoned date, like eating dinner and watching a moving picture. So, would you, Artemis, accompany me to dinner and a moving picture?"

Artemis smiled. "What are you doing, Kol?" she whispered.

He spun her so they faced one another. "Well, you spent three hundred years without me, darling," Kol replied. "I think we need to get reacquainted. You can tell me all about what I've missed for the last century."

"Alright," Artemis said. "I'll give it a chance. How does tomorrow evening work?"

Kol chuckled. "My calendar is wide open, darling," he replied.

She leaned in closer. "By the way, moving pictures are called 'movies' now," she murmured. "I think that you'll really enjoy them."

He smiled as he spun her, but frowned when he realized that she wasn't too steady on her feet. "Is something the matter?" he asked softly, helping her to steady herself.

She nodded, but seemed dazed. "I think I need to go splash some water on my face," she said quietly, bowing out from their dance. As she left, though, she tugged on the blood stained bandages on her hand. Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

"Where's your date?" Kol asked Rebekah as they stood, observing the party that was happening around them.

"Flirting with his ex," Rebekah responded coolly. "What about you? Where's your date? The girl you asked to dance earlier? She and Nik don't seem to get along too well."

"I don't know," Kol replied, taking a sip of champagne. "We're having one of those 'dates' that you keep raving about tomorrow evening." He paused for a second. "You've changed, Bekah," he continued, examining the golden liquid in the glass he held. "You know, settling for mortals is the first sign of weakness."

"I'm not settling," she replied. "Are you settling with that girl you're going on a date with?"

He laughed. "Oh, Bekah," he said. "That girl is no mortal, I can tell you that."

"Well, I brought my date here to kill him," Rebekah said. "He's Elena's friend, and if he dies, she suffers. But, I've already been scolded once, so, I was hoping you'd help your baby sister out."

"And spit right in the face of mother's rules?" Kol asked, a grin forming on his face. "I'm in."

Later, he watched as Rebekah led the mortal boy outside. Kol suspected that this boy was little more than one of Rebekah's infatuations. He, too, would pass. But there was something that caught Kol's attention. It was the way that the boy treated his sister. Normally, the guys that Rebekah went after were the strong, masculine types sometimes made her feel bad just for the fun of it. But this kid? He treated Rebekah with kindness and respect. He thought back to the way that he had first interacted with Artemis, and how he wished he could take back some of the things he had said, and instead acted more like Rebekah's latest man.

* * *

 _England, 1417_

 _He was simply looking for his next meal, a tavern wench of some kind preferably. They usually had copious amounts of alcohol in their system, and he found that he could easily get drunk off their blood. All he needed to do was find the right girl. And there she was, a pretty blonde girl with grey eyes, serving up ale like nobody else could. Her hair shone and her eyes sparkled, and her fair skin had just a hint of red in her cheeks._

 _"What can I get for ye?" she asked as he took a seat._

 _"I'll have ye," he said seriously, using compulsion to help convince her._

 _She smiled and leaned forward, pressing her bosom up and drawing his eyes to her chest. "Thine tricks do not work on me, vampire," she whispered in his ear. "But if ye want a lass with as much alcohol as blood, might I suggest the dark-haired lass over there?"_

 _He leaned back in surprise, his eyes snapping up to meet hers. After overcoming his initial shock, he smiled. "Methinks I rather desire conversation with the pretty lass who knows about vampires," he replied with a smile. "The lass can wait."_

 _The blonde woman smiled. "Call me Artemis," she told him, setting an ale down in front of him._

 _"Call me Kol," he countered, taking a sip of his ale._

* * *

When he went back inside for the champagne toast, he spotted Artemis on the edge of the crowd, a flute already in her hand. She looked paler than she normally did, almost sickly pale. He wanted to brush it off as a trick of the light, but there were some things that one just knew about the other after 600 years of marriage. Kol plucked a champagne flute of his own off of the tray of a passing waiter, and moved to stand at her side.

"I was just reminiscing on the first day we met, darling," he whispered, his free hand coming to rest on the middle of her back.

Artemis smiled. "You demanded to have a conversation when you found out I knew about vampires, then followed me back to my home and tried to drain me of my blood."

"I remember your blood being one of the foulest things I'd ever tasted," he murmured, chuckling at the memory.

"Then, when you couldn't drink my blood, you tried to kill me, but I was faster and stronger than you," she continued. "And then, if I remember correctly, you called me a 'damn fine woman' and kissed me instead."

Kol remembered it well. It was in that exact moment that he realized that she was more than a random fling. His heart tugged when they touched, every moment touch confirming to him that she was the one who could tame the monster that he had become. Life had been easy when he knew he was the monster. It was better to relish in the role than try and reject it. But there had been something about Artemis when they first met, something that showed him that he didn't have to be the monster that his brothers had framed them all to be.

Their attention shifted to Esther, who stood on the stairs, proposing a toast and thanking everyone in attendance for being there. Everyone raised their glasses and took a sip. Kol thought the champagne tasted incredible, but Artemis thought differently. The single sip burned in her mouth, feeling like acid the entire way down. It wasn't the normal burn of alcohol, but something much stronger. She coughed loudly, causing Kol to look at her with concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked, moving his hand to rub between her shoulder blades.

"I'm fine," she responded, waving her hand. "I think that the champagne was just a little strong, that's all."

But his eyes now rested on the hand that she waved, zeroing in on the bandage then went across it. "Shit, your hand…" Kol exclaimed quietly, watching the scarlet blood beginning to seep through.

"I haven't fed in a while," she admitted, pulling her hand away. "It's alright, I'll be fine. I just need some time to heal."

Without saying a word, he leaned over and kissed her gently. She wanted to protest, but as soon as she felt his energy begin to flow through her, she wanted more. No one she had ever kissed before could make her feel the way that Kol made her feel. She could feel the wound in her hand starting to close, and a warmth in her stomach as the bruising began to fade.

When they broke apart, Kol could see that Artemis was already looking better. Her cheeks held some color that hadn't been present before, and her eyes sparkled brightly. "There, that should help, until you're ready," he said softly.

Before Artemis could respond, Damon suddenly appeared and dragged her away. "It's time for us to go," he told her. "Elena met with Mama Original, and you just made out with one of the brothers. That's way too close for comfort, so we're taking Elena home, and then you're going back to wherever you came from."

"But wait, I…" she trailed off, looking back at her husband.

"Tomorrow, darling," he called after her. "I'll see you then."

* * *

"Elena," Damon called out as he and Artemis approached. The dark-haired girl who had been walking in front of them turned around. So this was Amara's doppelganger. "Did you get what you want?"

Elena smiled. "Actually, yes," she replied, a hint of triumph in her voice.

"Good," Damon said. "Tell me on the ride home. We're leaving. Come on." He wrapped his hand around her upper arm and began dragging her towards the front door, not leaving her with any options for escaping.

"No, Damon," Elena said angrily. "Let go of me." He let go, but rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry that I had to cut you out of the plan."

"There shouldn't have been a plan," Damon responded. "You shouldn't be here."

"Why shouldn't she, Damon?" Artemis chimed in. "She's an adult, isn't she? You can't make choices for everyone. Like, for example, I was having quite a nice discussion with my husband and I would like to go back and at least say goodnight."

"Exactly what she said, Damon," Elena said. "I don't like going behind your back, but if I hadn't asked Stefan for help, then you would have tried to be the hero and you would have ruined everything."

"Sorry for trying to keep you alive," Damon responded. "Besides, Artemis here was supposed to be the hero, but got sidetracked by Kol Mikealson."

Artemis sighed. "He's my husband, Damon," she repeated. "I hadn't seen him in three centuries, and you expect me to put all of my focus on a teenager who clearly has it set in her mind what she is going to do?"

"Look, why are you mad at her, Damon?" Elena said, gesturing to Artemis. "And why are you mad at me?"

"Maybe I'm mad at you because I love you," Damon replied. Elena and Artemis froze.

"Well, maybe that's the problem," Elena responded.

Artemis, in all of her experience with people in love, decided that it would be a good time to slip away, and let them have their lovers' quarrel.

* * *

"Matt," Kol called out as he saw the blonde teenage boy pass. It hadn't taken long for him to learn the name of the boy who had treated his sister with kindness and respect, and now he desired to make his acquaintance. It was his duty as an older brother, after all.

The boy turned to face Kol on the balcony. There was a look of apprehension in his eyes. It was clear to Kol that Matt hesitated to trust vampires. Perhaps his sister was different, since she was clearly infatuated. Or, more accurately, his distrust of Kol probably stemmed from the interactions he had had in the past with his brothers.

"Good evening," Kol continued, a smile on his face. "You're Rebekah's friend, right? We haven't met. Kol Mikaelson." He extended his hand.

"Matt Donovan," the human replied, taking Kol's hand with apprehension.

"I wanted to thank you for being so respectful to my baby sister," Kol told him as they shook hands. "I always wanted my sister to be with someone who respects her. Unfortunately, over the last millennia, they've been pretty hard to come by."

Matt looked surprised. He hadn't expected one of the Original brothers to be so… normal. "Thanks, I guess," he replied, unsure of how he was supposed to respond. "I just saw the kind of guys that my mom and my sister went out with, and decided that I didn't want to be like them."

The vampire nodded. "Well, if your goal was to be a gentleman, then I would say that you've accomplished that," he said sincerely. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Matt look startled, but gestured for Kol to continue. "I've been told that courting a woman today is far different than it was the last time I was awake. I asked my wife on one of these so-called 'dates,' only I have no idea where to take her or what to do. I obviously can't any of my brothers. Finn's been asleep for 900 years, Elijah doesn't date, and Nik is, well, Nik. I could ask Rebekah, but she doesn't know the town very well, so I was wondering if you had any suggestions?"

The human laughed, and Kol frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh," Matt explained. "It's just, a thousand-year-old vampire, asking for dating advice from a teenager… I just never imagined my life would turn out like this." He paused, and Kol nodded his head. Even he could admit that the situation was rather humorous. "Take her to the Mystic Grille. It's one of the few places in this town that's more on the casual side. Perfect for a first date. Not too fancy, but not a dive."

Before Kol had a chance to thank him, Damon appeared. "Hey, hey, hey, hey," he said, mistaking their friendly conversation for a standoff. "Leave the boy alone. He's just a human."

Both Matt and Kol opened their mouths to tell Damon that he was wrong, but neither was able to get a word in. Damon charged at Kol and slammed him backwards, sending the Original vampire tumbling over the railing of the balcony and onto the brick walkway below. He jumped down after before Matt had a chance to yell at him, and landed on top of Kol. Kol tried in vain to push Damon off, but wasn't strong enough. The struggle ended when Damon snapped his neck, and Kol's world went black once again.

* * *

"Damon!" she heard Stefan shout as the doors to the house were thrown open. "Are you crazy?"

She gone back to talking to Elena once she had seen Damon storm off, listening to the younger girl fill her in on who was who in the town. When Stefan had shouted, Elena had turned and ran to the front door, her heels clicking against the stone floor. Artemis, like the Original siblings, walked outside slowly, only to see Damon standing over Kol's dead body.

"Maybe a little," Damon admitted, his eyes darting across the figures in front of him. "Far be it from me to cause a problem," he said, looking straight at Elena, a smile crossing his face.

Artemis walked forward slowly but purposefully, a neutral expression on her face. She came to stand in front of Damon, her eyes locking onto his. Before he could make a comment, she punched him square in the nose, causing him to take a few steps backward. Blood flowed freely, drops of crimson staining his tuxedo. He chuckled, looking back at her, and turned and walked down the driveway, leaving several surprised individuals in his wake.

She watched Damon retreat, and sighed before kneeling down next to Kol's body. Her fingertips ran lightly down his cheek and came to rest on his neck, where she could feel the place where his spine had severed. Her magic went to work, splinters of energy flowing from her fingertips down to his spine, fusing the damaged nerves back together. It would allow his body to heal more quickly.

Artemis wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and gripped his torso, pulling him off the ground. She knew that the energy she had used to help mend his spine was likely more than he had given her earlier, and that carrying him would be a difficult task. Although she struggled under his weight, she refused to show it.

Someone appeared on Kol's other side, helping to support his weight. It was the eldest of the Original siblings, the one that Artemis had yet to meet. "I thought you could use a hand," he said, as they walked towards the house. "Finn Mikealson. I don't believe that we've met."

"Artemis," she responded. "I'm Kol's wife."

"I wasn't aware that Kol had a wife," Finn said, a surprised expression coming across his face.

Artemis smiled as they began to walk up the stairs. "We've been married for almost six hundred years now, and he still hasn't told anyone in his family," she replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. Although she understood that his relationship with his siblings was rather complex, it would have been nice to meet at least one of them before this.

"To be fair, I was in a box for the past 900 years," Finn explained as they reached one of the bedrooms on the second floor. He opened the door with one hand and helped Artemis lay Kol down on the bed. "This is the room that Niklaus has provided for Kol. Is there anything more that you need help with?"

"A couple of bags of blood would be nice," she said as she began to take off Kol's shoes. "He's usually rather hungry when he wakes up, and I would prefer to not have to sit in awkward silence with another human while waiting for him to wake up."

Finn nodded in understanding. "I'll send someone up," he told her, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

She stripped Kol of his suit, leaving him only in his boxers and a t-shirt. The only time that she paused in her work was when a soft knock came at the door, revealing a young woman Artemis had never seen before, carrying two bags of blood. She then went through Kol's drawers, finding a pair of sweatpants and a loose, white t-shirt that she could change into.

He still had not awoken when she was finished changing, so she slid under the blankets next to him, curling up with her back to him and easily finding sleep.

* * *

When Kol woke, it was dark. The box on the table beside the bed displayed the time as 2:17. Elijah had explained that in the 21st century, this was how most people told the time. Kol rather missed hearing the bells chime on the clock he owned briefly in the 1900s, but this new way of telling time was arguably more useful in the early hours of the morning.

Next to the box were two bags of blood, which Kol downed greedily. After dying, he always felt like shit. The blood made him feel more alive.

He felt a warm body next to his as he slid under the covers. In the darkness, he could make out the sleeping form of Artemis. Smiling to himself, he reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and turn to face him, waking up from her sleep.

"What happened to needing time and space, darling?" he whispered, brushing a lock of blonde hair from her face.

"You need me too much," she mumbled in response, her eyes fluttering.

"I think you need me just as much as I need you," Kol responded, moving closer to kiss her.

The energy that Artemis got from Kol's kisses was greater than anything she had experienced in the past three centuries. She had remained faithful to Kol, even when he had disappeared from her life, and as a result, she had been unable to feel completely alive. There had always been a dark cloud that seemed to hang over her soul, and she had always seemed depressed. With the things that she did with Kol that night, she felt more alive than she had in a long time.

With both feeling as though they were alive again, they fell asleep, Artemis's head resting on Kol's chest, as if they had never been separated.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, well, well," Kol said as Rebekah entered the house, still wearing her emerald gown from the night before. "There's our girl!"

He rose from his armchair as she entered, moving to stand in front of her. Artemis remained curled up in the armchair next to his, watching the scene unfold. She wore a wide smile on her face, one that had not disappeared since she had woken up. Artemis felt like her old self again, even with Nik sitting in the same room as her, sketching. She realized that when he wasn't trying to kill her and everyone she knew, then he wasn't so bad.

"Get out of my way, Kol," Rebekah replied in an annoyed, tired voice. She tried to step past him, but he moved too quickly, determined to keep her on the steps.

"Out all night," Kol continued with a grin. "What a scandal!"

"If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth," she threatened. When her other brother laughed, she rounded on him. "Don't start, Nik," she muttered, finally pushing past Kol.

"I didn't say anything" Nik countered, raising his hands in defense. "I rather think the scandalous one in this room is Kol. You didn't hear the sounds coming from his room last night."

Artemis blushed a deep red as Nik snickered. "Yes, but we're married, Nik, and we can do whatever we please without causing a scandal," Kol chided his brother as he flopped back down on the chair next to his wife.

"You're married?!" Rebekah exclaimed, her jaw dropping. Out of all of the siblings that she thought would be married, Kol was probably at the very bottom of her list. Yet, here he sat, fingers intertwined with the woman next to him. "When did that happen? How did it happen?"

"Six hundred years ago, and how most marriages normally happen, I suppose," Kol told his sister offhandedly. "I suppose Artemis can give you all of the girly details when you two have some time to do some female bonding. But now, I'm bored all cooped up in this house. I want to take Artemis out on the town, do some day drinking, shoot some pool. What do you say, brother?"

Nik looked up at his brother. "What are you waiting for?" he asked. "Go on, have at it."

"Oh, come on Nik, join us," Kol pressed. "Buying us a drink is the least you could do after separating us for so long, not to mention killing one of us the other night."

Nik looked between the married pair before rolling his eyes and putting his sketchbook down on the table. "Well, I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night," he finally said, agreeing to go with them.

"Yes, please, go," Rebekah said as the three stood. "This house has enough men rolling around in it."

"Just like you, Bekah," Kol quipped from the top of the steps. He laughed as he wrapped one of his arms around Artemis's shoulders, dodging the handbag that was thrown his way.

* * *

"I remember her from last night," Kol proclaimed, slightly drunk, upon seeing the blonde girl walking towards them. Between the three of them, they had drunk nearly half of the Mystic Grille's liquor supply, and run up a tab that was equivalent to the GDP of a small country. Not that Artemis much minded. Nik had money to spend, and he had already said he would cover their tab. What was one drink more?

"I do too!" Artemis exclaimed. "She was friends with the girl who was friends with Stefan and Damon! Her dress was gorgeous."

"Not as gorgeous as you," Kol countered, leaning in the place a flurry of kisses on her neck. Artemis giggled at the sensation, the alcohol loosening her inhibitions slightly.

Nik groaned, before smiling at the girl. "Caroline," he greeted as she approached. Artemis and Kol joined him in smiling at her.

Caroline looked Nik up and down, before glancing briefly over at the two who sat next to him. Her eyes returned to Nik, an indifferent expression in them. "Oh, it's you," she said coolly.

Although Artemis was taken aback by the girl's cool demeanor, Nik seemed unfazed. "Join us for a drink?" he pressed, raising his glass. Kol and Artemis followed suit.

"I'd rather die of thirst, but thanks," she replied, sounding like the stereotypical mean girl in ever teen drama. Artemis sucked in a breath as Caroline turned on her heel and walked away from them, not sparing a second glance at them.

"Isn't she stunning?" Nik whispered, a wide grin on his face. It was clear that he was infatuated with the girl, although she seemed to rebuff his every advance. Perhaps that was what made her so special to Nik. It was the thrill of the chase, after all.

"She certainly looks good walking away from you," Kol and Artemis said simultaneously, before bursting out into cackles.

Nik just rolled his eyes at the comment. "I'll take that as a challenge," he replied, downing his drink and following the pretty girl out of the restaurant.

* * *

Alaric and Meredith watched Klaus leave the Grille, chasing after Caroline, as everyone knew that he would. It was such a predictable behavior with the Original Hybrid that it was almost laughable. The two that were left sitting at the bar, however, were unpredictable.

"So that's Kol?" Meredith asked Alaric. He nodded in confirmation. "And the woman next to him is, Artemis, who isn't a vampire?"

Alaric shrugged. "Damon just told me to be careful of her," he replied in a low whisper. "He said that she would be a necessary casualty, and that a knife though the chest would do the job."

Meredith turned to look at Alaric with alarm. "Won't that kill her?" she asked. "I mean, is she innocent in all of this? She's not a vampire, we have no reason to hunt her, so why would we kill her?"

"Because she's immortal, and she'll get over it," he said smoothly, reaching to rub her shoulder reassuringly. "Look, she's not a vampire, but she isn't exactly human either, and she's not a witch or a werewolf. She's something that none of us have encountered before, and it would be best to just follow Damon's advice on this."

After a moment of consideration, the doctor reluctantly nodded. "I guess we have no choice," she whispered, going back to watch the couple at the bar. They didn't act the way that Damon swore they would. There were no dead bodies on the bar, they weren't slowdancing amongst the dead like psychopaths, and they weren't harassing every human that walked past them. Instead, they appeared relatively… normal.

They looked as any couple would at the bar, deeply engrossed in conversation and with eyes only for one another. Every once in a while, one of them would say something that would cause the other to smile and laugh. She wondered what they could possibly be saying to one another. Her mind allowed her to drift to a darker place for a moment, a reality where the pair were talking about all of the lives that they had ended or destroyed over the centuries, and gleefully rehashing their shared experiences.

In that moment, Meredith decided that she was okay with going through with the plan, on the off chance that they actually were psychopaths plotting the destruction of the town.

* * *

"Hey," a woman said, approaching Artemis and Kol at the bar. "You guys must be new in town. I'm Meredith, I'm one of the doctors at the hospital. Welcome to Mystic Falls!"

Artemis smiled. "Thank you," she replied. "We think that this town is positively charming. I'm Artemis, and this is my husband, Kol. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you to," Meredith said, before glancing over her shoulder. "My boyfriend, Alaric, and I were wondering if you'd like to join us in a game of couples pool, maybe get to know each other a little more? There aren't a lot of young couples in Mystic Falls anymore."

"Well, we don't know many people in Mystic Falls," Artemis said, turning to look at Kol. She raised one of her brows at him, letting him know that she was interested.

Kol smiled. "We would love to join you and your boyfriend in a game of pool," he replied to Meredith. "It's been a long time since Artemis and I played together. Let's see if we're still as amazing as we used to be."

They followed Meredith over to the pool table where Alaric was waiting. After a brief introduction, they started up their game. "So, how long have you two known each other?" Meredith asked Kol and Artemis.

Artemis laughed. "It feels like it's been forever," she told them, her eyes sparkling. "But it's only been, what, six years?"

"Feels a hell of a lot longer than that," Kol grunted as he took his shot. "But that sounds about right. "Got married after only a year. Best decision I ever made." He placed a chaste kiss on his wife's cheek after sinking one of the balls.

"We met at a bar," Artemis continued. "I was tending. He came in looking for a drink, and left with my number. He was persistent, to say the least, and it took a little while for me to give in. I don't usually go for the charming ones, but he convinced me. I'd been through bad relationships before, to the point where I'd decided to swear off men, but Kol made me feel alive again."

They had paused playing their game, Kol and Artemis simply staring at one another, lost in their own world. They were so lost in one another's eyes that they didn't notice Alaric and Meredith sneaking up behind them, until Kol felt the dagger pierce his chest, and Artemis felt a knife pierce hers.

"Why?" Artemis was able to choke out, looking up at Meredith as she slipped to the ground. The last thing she saw before slipping into darkness was the slightly panicked look on Meredith's face.

* * *

"I still don't get why we had to kill both of them," Meredith grunted while dragging Artemis's body towards the alleyway. "They both seemed perfectly nice, especially Artemis."

"I'm telling you, neither one of them is actually very nice," Alaric reminded her. "Damon says that-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what Damon says," Meredith cut in. "But Damon's also a dick. He thought I was a murdering psychopath. How can I trust what he has to say?"

"Ouch, that hurt my feelings," came Damon's sarcastic voice, as he and Stefan made their way into the alleyway that Meredith and Alaric just entered. "Besides, in this case, you can trust me. Have you met the rest of the Original family?"

"And you think that she's bad too?" Meredith asked. "What are you even planning on doing with her?"

Before Damon could answer, Klaus flashed into the alleyway, ripping the dagger out of Kol's chest and slamming Alaric against the alleyway wall. His dangerous gaze turned on Meredith, who was shielding Artemis's body. Stefan took the opportunity to charge at Klaus, only to be sent flying over the hybrid's shoulder and landing with a "thud" on the steps behind him.

Ignoring Meredith and Artemis for the moment, he turned to face Damon. "I should have killed you months ago."

"Do it," the younger vampire challenged. "That's not going to stop Esther from killing you."

"What did you say about my mother?" Klaus asked, taking a few menacing steps forward. As far as he knew, his mother wanted to bring the family closer together. Killing him would be the opposite of that.

The two continued to argue back and forth, with Damon baiting Klaus and Klaus answering the challenge. Meredith instead kept an eye on Kol's body. She had never seen an Original come back to life like that before. He was quick to rise to his feet, and join his two brothers. She hadn't seen when Elijah entered the fray, only now noticing that it was two against three. Meredith chose that moment to rip the knife out of Artemis's chest, the guilt of killing a woman who seemed innocent growing over her like a storm cloud.

Kol's head snapped to look at her, and he was at his wife's side in a flash, stroking her hair.

"Her blood doesn't distract you?" Meredith whispered, a look of surprise on her face. She had never seen a vampire act so apathetic towards blood before.

"Her blood has no scent, and is the foulest tasting substance I have ever encountered," he replied, his eyes drifting to Meredith. "Was the blade treated with anything?"

The doctor shook her head. "No, I don't think so," she said. "I'm… I'm sorry, Kol."

He smiled sadly. "It wouldn't be the first time that this happened to her," he told Meredith, looking down as his wife began to stir. "Are you alright, darling?"

"Good," she whispered, her lips barely moving.

"Kol," Klaus's voice cut in. "We must go stop mother."

"But…" Kol trailed off, looking between his brother and his wife.

"Go, Kol, I'll be fine," Artemis whispered. "I just need time to rest. Go take care of your mother. You know I was never a fan of witches like her anyways."

He nodded uncertainly, before kissing her gently. "I'll see you at home then," he told her, before vanishing with his brothers and the Salvatores.

With her newfound strength, Artemis pulled herself to her feet, only to realize that Meredith was behind her and offering support. Artemis shook her head, and gestured to Alaric, who was still passed out on the ground. "He needs more help than I do," she told the doctor.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Meredith asked, looking between Artemis and her unconscious boyfriend.

Artemis could already feel her strength returning. Thanks to the fact that she had fed well recently, healing her body after dying took far less time. "I'm certain that I'll be fine in about an hour or so," she said. "I can't speak for your boyfriend, though."

Meredith turned to fully look at her boyfriend, who was showing signs of regaining consciousness. When she looked back to the other woman, she gasped when she found that Artemis had disappeared.

* * *

Artemis was proud of herself. She had managed to walk all the way back to the Mikealson mansion, make herself a cup of tea, and change into a pair of Kol's sweatpants before she finally collapsed out of exhaustion. Artemis was only asleep for about an hour before Kol burst into the room, his anger rolling off him in waves.

"My mother tried to kill us," he said, opening up the doors of the wardrobe. "Not just Nik, but all of us. I thought she only thought Nik the abomination, not all of us."

"What do you mean, all of us?" Artemis murmured, still half-asleep.

"She told us that we were all abominations, and that we should have been killed as soon as we were turned," Kol replied, throwing several articles of clothing into a duffle bag. "So, we're leaving. Getting away from here. Starting over somewhere new."

"We can't leave, Kol," Artemis said firmly, sitting up in the bed. "Not now. Not when your family needs you."

"What do you mean, this family needs me?" he responded angrily. "This family has never needed me. Elijah, Nik, and Bekah have always been doing things on there own. What makes this any different? Besides, the longer we spend here, the more dangerous it is for us. Esther knows where we are, and that makes us targets."

Artemis sighed. "Look, I know you have your issues with your siblings," she said. "They don't know it yet, but they need you. You're the only one who studied witchcraft, Kol. You know that you can help stop Esther."

"What about you, and your safety?" Kol countered. "Once my mother knows what you are, she'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth for your blood."

She smiled sadly. "All the more reason to stand and face her," she whispered. "I've done the whole running and hiding thing before, and it isn't much fun. I just want to face her head on if it comes down to it."

He stood in the center of the room for a moment, simply looking at his wife. She gave him a pointed look, as if she was telling him that he knew she was right. Eventually, he threw his hands up in agreement. "I'll give them one more chance," he finally agreed. "Just one. But if they lay a finger on you, or brandish one of those daggers at me, then it's all over, and we're leaving."

Artemis nodded in understanding. "We should probably go tell your siblings then," she said.

He smiled, and offered her his hand. Smiling back, she accepted it, and rose from the bed.

"You know, it's a really good thing that I love you," Kol told her as they made their way downstairs.

"Mmmm and why is that?" Artemis asked.

"Because if anyone else had tried to convince me to stay with my family, I would have ripped them to shreds," he replied. "But for you, I guess I'll give it one more chance."


	4. Chapter 4

_England, 1417_

 _She suddenly found herself pinned against the wall by the man who had been at the tavern earlier. His body held hers pressed sinfully against her, his breath hot against her neck. "Now, darling," he whispered in her ear. "Tell me. There's no fear in your eyes when you look at me. Why would that be?"_

 _"I have no reason to be," she breathed in response. "I'm not a vampire myself, but I'm not human either. If you taste my blood, you'd find I taste rather awful."_

 _"Is that an offer, darling?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes. She only nodded, and he couldn't help but oblige. His eyes darkened, the veins under his eyes becoming darker. He could feel his fangs elongate before they pierced the soft flesh of her neck. In a second, he was off her, coughing and sputtering at the foul taste in his mouth, doubled over near the other wall of the alley they were in._

 _Artemis sighed and rolled her eyes. "You can't say I didn't warn you, love," she told him._

 _He looked up at her, a shocked expression on her face. "What are you?"_

 _She shrugged. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out," she whispered slyly, before disappearing into the night and leaving a confused Kol behind._

* * *

Waking up in Kol's arms was perhaps the best way that Artemis could imagine to start her day. The only way that was better, however, was when Kol made her breakfast before she woke up. Well, when Kol tried to make her breakfast. This particular morning, she woke to the smell of burning food. Her eyes snapped open and she was up and down the stairs in an instant, alarm evident on her face and she appeared in the kitchen. Kol looked at her with a guilty look on his face, a skillet full of burnt pancakes in one hand and a wet dishrag in the other.

"I thought I'd try and do something romantic," he told her sheepishly. "The internet said that cooking breakfast for your woman and bringing it to her in bed was romantic, so…"

Artemis shook her head. "Kol, you have no idea how to cook," she reminded him.

"It looked easy," he said, trying to defend himself. He gestured to the mess of a kitchen, where each surface seemed to be covered in a fine layer of flour. "All of the moving pictures on the YouTube seemed to make it appear easy, and the fellows on the Food Network make it look like a breeze." He paused, dropping the pan and dish rag into the sink. "It's much harder than it looks."

She laughed. "Well, I appreciate the gesture," she said, beginning to dust some of the flour off the island in the kitchen. "What do you say we get this place cleaned up and then go out for breakfast? There's a small café not too far from here. We could take a nice morning walk."

"I'll take care of the mess, darling, you just put something on that looks amazing," he told her, before kissing her cheek and using his vampire speed to begin picking up the mess he made.

* * *

"What are we running, a marathon?" Matt called as he struggled to keep pace with Elena. What was supposed to be a light jog around the neighborhood had turned into an all-out sprint. Even with football season still going on, it was hard for him to keep pace with her. Where had all of her energy come from?

"If you can't keep up…" she taunted, pulling ahead of him.

"Elena, you can't outrun your problems!" he shouted at her, slowing down to a stop. "Although, it looks like you're going to try," he mumbled, mostly to himself. He watched as she got further and further away, before deciding to call out to her once more. "I talked to Bonnie!"

That caused Elena to stop and turn, and allowed Matt a little time to walk towards her and catch his breath. "What did she say?" she demanded.

"They're at her mom's house," he told her. "Abby's going to complete the transition."

The news had surprised Matt as much as it seemed to surprise Elena. She looked thoroughly confused by the news. Abby had spent her entire life trying to avoid vampires, and now she would become one? Before she could ask, she spotted two people over Matt's shoulder. One was Kol, one of the Original vampires, and the other was that woman Artemis, who Damon had dragged over the night of the ball.

They looked like one of those couples you might see in a clothing catalog. They both wore grey sweaters, with slim-fitting jeans and tan shoes. Although they wore different styles, the colors they wore still matched almost perfectly. The woman's hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, while his hair was tousled as if he just woke up. There was something that seemed to draw them together like a magnet. They were both smiling, and laughing, and just happy.

It made Elena sick to see someone so evil look so happy.

Matt turned and saw them too. He didn't share the same feeling as Elena. Sure, he hated vampires, and he hated the Originals, but something about Kol struck him as different. He seemed more capable of human emotion than the rest of his siblings.

Kol smiled when he them. "Matt, what a pleasant surprise," he called out. "And Elena, I presume. Lovely to see you both this morning."

Elena nodded stiffly, but Matt shook Kol's hand. "Good to see you again, man," he greeted. "I take it this is your wife?"

Artemis nodded, and stuck out her hand. "I'm Artemis," she said with a smile on her face. "Kol told me you were the one who suggested we go the the Grille on a date. He's been trying to do the whole 'romantic date' thing for a while now, but something usually winds up going wrong."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Well, the kitchen didn't actually burn down this morning, so I'll consider it a partial success," he replied.

"So we're headed out to breakfast instead, since the kitchen smells like smoke," she continued with a giggle. "Would you two care to join us?"

There was a pause, interrupted by Elena's cell phone ringing. She looked down to see the same "Sheriff Forbes" flash across her screen. "Sheriff Forbes, everything okay?" she asked, answering the phone. There was another pause, and then "he what?"

Matt looked from Elena to Artemis and Kol. "Maybe another time?" he offered.

The pair nodded. "Of course," Kol replied. "Let us know if you need anything. That conversation sounds pretty serious."

The two of them waved to the teens as they continued on their way to the café. Matt now stood with Elena alone, wondering why Kol and Artemis would have invited them out. Perhaps they were meant to be breakfast? There surely was no way that they could be that nice, could they?

* * *

"This is, perhaps, one of the most amazing waffles I have ever had," Kol declared through bites of his breakfast. "These are positively incredible. Who would have thought to put bacon and chive into the waffle, and serve it with a cheddar cheese dipping sauce?"

"It is fantastic," Artemis agreed, taking another bite. "Do you know what would make it even better though?"

"Hash browns on the side?" he asked.

She nodded. "Hash browns on the side."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, eating their waffles. But then Kol paused, and just simply watched Artemis instead. He took in all the small details about her, as if he was trying to memorize her image: the way her hair fell over her soulder, or how she brushed off of her forehead every so often with a huff of annoyance, or the way her grey eyes sparkled in the lighting of the café, or the way she drummed her fingers against the table after taking a particularly savory bite.

She caught him staring and giggled. "You know, you could take a picture," she told him, a smile on her face. "It would last longer."

He shook his head. "I don't have a camera, darling, and I don't think the owners of the café would appreciate us dragging all that equipment in here," he replied.

Artemis laughed again. "I keep forgetting that you just joined us in this century," she said, holding out her had. "Let me see your phone."

Kol handed the infuriating device over and watched as his wife pulled up the phone's camera app. It was fascinating to see. There, on the screen, was the moving image of whatever the camera was pointing at. When he moved it to look at his wife, there was her smiling face on the screen. He pressed the capture button about twenty times before deciding he probably got a good photograph.

He handed the phone back over to her to show her what he got. Artemis pressed a few buttons on his phone, after scrolling through the pictures that he had taken, and handed it back to him with a grin on her face. He grinned as well when he saw that she had taken the best photo and set it as the background to his phone, so whenever he looked at it, he would see his wife. The technology was absolutely incredible, Kol decided, even if it was infuriating at times.

"I had no idea this could be done," he said, looking from his phone to her. "I quite like it, though. Any time I'm not in your presence, I can be reminded of your ravishing looks."

"I did the same for you," she told him, handing over her own phone. Her background was a picture of Kol that he didn't even know she had taken. It was the night of the ball, probably when Damon was dragging her away, that she snapped the candid photo of him. There was a hint of a smile on his face, as he probably thought of Artemis.

He smiled sadly as he handed the phone back to her. "There's something I must tell you," he said softly. She didn't reply, just nodded her head, so he continued. "Nik has asked me to go to Colorado. Apparently, the doppelganger has a younger brother named Jeremy, and Nik wants me to go to Colorado and keep an eye on him, but he wants me to go alone. He seems to think that sending both of us away would be suspicious in the eyes of those who are against us."

There was a pause, where Artemis was looking down at the plate of food in front of her, before glancing up at her husband with a sad smile on her face. "At least it's only temporary, right?" she whispered. "You out in Colorado, and me here? I'll make myself useful here. If Nik won't listen to what I have to say, then Bekah will. And as soon as possible, I'll join you in Colorado."

He nodded sadly, and reached for her hand across the table. "I wish this wasn't the way it had to be," he murmured, tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

Artemis smiled. "Come on, there's something I want to show you before you leave," she said, standing up and tugging his hand towards the door. They paid for their breakfast on the way out, and headed into the crisp, autumn air.

* * *

They stopped in front of a quaint-looking home on the edge of town, sitting at the end of a quiet street. It looked older, holding a certain feeling of antiquity. The house itself was painted a pale shade of yellow, with emerald green shutters standing at attention on either side of the paneled windows. It was small, probably only two bedrooms, if Kol had to guess, but the house was absolutely adorable.

"It's the most charming house I've ever seen," he told her as she bounced up and down excitedly next to him. "Why are we here and why can't you contain yourself?"

"I might have bought it yesterday," she nearly shouted, as his eyes widened. "I knew that we would probably stick around in Virginia for a little while, so I just went ahead and bought it so we didn't have to keep living under your brother's roof anymore and we would have a place to call our own."

"And now I have somewhere to come home to," Kol concluded, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close as they both looked at the house before them. "Just promise me one thing?"

"Anything," she whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Make it modern," Kol said. "We're living in the future, darling, and that's where I want to stay."


	5. Chapter 5

_England, 1417_

 _He was back again, the vampire who had bitten her last night. It was surprising to see him again, and more surprising that his eyes seemed to be on her from the moment he walked through the tavern door._

 _"What can I get ye tonight, Kol?" she asked._

 _At that moment, one of the customers walked past and slapped her ass, a wide grin on his face. "Is this tonight's lucky man?" he asked, his words slurring as he spoke. "Let me tell ye, lad, this lass is the best there is."_

 _She shoved him off, an angry look in her eyes as the drunkard crumpled to the floor. Her glare turned on Kol as he chuckled at the poor fellow's misfortune. "I do what I must to survive," she growled at him lowly._

 _"I shall not judge ye, darling," Kol replied, taking one of her hands in his. "But feel free to come to me the next time ye need a good romp."_

 _Artemis grinned. "Perhaps I shall," she responded coyly, before setting a mug of ale down in front of him and hurrying away._

* * *

"Good morning!" the voice rang though the house, stirring Artemis from her sleep. Kol had left the night before for Colorado, leaving Artemis alone in their new house. It seemed as though Rebekah had chosen to take advantage of the spare key that Artemis had given her in case of emergencies, although she highly doubted that there was some sort of emergency this early in the morning. "Are you still asleep?" the female vampire called out.

"Yes, Bekah, it's only 7:30 on a Saturday," Artemis replied, her voice muffled by the pillow that she had shoved her face into.

"Well, get up, sleepyhead, we're going out," Bekah said, her voice sounding close enough to Artemis to cause her to jump.

Artemis turned her head so that she could look out of the corner of her eye, and wasn't surprised to see Bekah standing right next to her, peering down. "Is there any particular reason that you're here this early in the morning?" Artemis grumbled as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"The Wickery Bridge," Bekah replied, walking over to Artemis's closet and throwing the doors open. "There's a ceremony today, and we're going to support the town."

"Why are we really going, Bekah?" Artemis asked, as the vampire threw some clothes at her.

Bekah sighed. "There might be some wood from a particular white oak tree that was used in the construction of the bridge," she replied, crossing her arms. "If anyone gets their hands on that wood, and fashions it into stakes, then they could use it to kill me and all of my siblings, including your husband."

Artemis sat stunned for a moment, before sliding out of bed and padding to the bathroom. "Help yourself to some breakfast, and I'll be right down," she called before sliding the bathroom door shut."

* * *

It seemed as though most of the town had turned out for the Wickery Bridge ceremony, which surprised Artemis. For some reason, it seemed as though the entire town was deeply concerned about preserving the town's history. Artemis had never seen a group of people that dedicated to preservation. She had read some of the stories of the Wickery Bridge, how there had been a bad accident a few years ago that resulted in the death of two members of what the town called the "founding families," and that those deaths were the primary reason for the restoration of the bridge.

"Mrs. Mikealson, is it?" someone asked, causing Artemis to tear her eyes away from the construction.

"Mayor Lockwood," Artemis greeted warmly. Her heart swelled with pride being addressed by her married name. It had been a few hundred years since someone had called her that. "I'm sorry that we were not properly introduced during the ball at the Mikealson mansion."

The mayor's eyes softened. "I remember that you had a bit of a health scare," she said, placing her hand on Artemis's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Artemis nodded. "It was shock, mostly," she replied smoothly. "I hadn't seen my husband in quite some time, and had believed him to be dead. It's quite strange to see someone you believe to be dead reappear so suddenly and so casually."

Carol laughed. "I'm sure it was quite a surprise," she agreed. "Anyways, I would like to thank you for coming out to see the ceremony. It's always nice to be able to show our new residents some of the town history."

"Of course," Artemis said with a smile. "I know that the bridge is quite significant in this town."

"Yes, us Mikealsons simply enjoy embracing the towns we live in," Rebekah chimed in, suddenly appearing at Artemis's side.

Artemis could tell that Carol was struggling to keep her composure. "Yes, well it's one of the few bridges that leads in and out of Mystic Falls," the mayor told them. "The original bridge was built here in the early 1900s, and updated in the 1980s, but we want to make sure that it's up to modern codes. There have been a few tragic accidents on this bridge, and we'd like to prevent any more."

"I heard about those accidents," Bekah mused, feigning sympathy. "The poor Gilbert children. It must have been hard to lose their parents like that."

"Elena seems like a lovely girl," Artemis said, elbowing Bekah in the ribs. "I'm sure that she and her brother are both very appreciative of the town's efforts to prevent further tragedy."

The mayor nodded tightly before excusing herself from the conversation. Ric, Meredith, and Damon had shown up, and it appeared that Ric was supposed to have made a new sign for the bridge.

"Would it kill you to have a little compassion?" Artemis whispered to Bekah. "They lost their parents. Surely you remember what that felt like."

"I'm not really Elena's biggest fan, so I don't really care," Bekah replied casually, her eyes locked on Damon.

Artemis didn't miss her gaze. "Why are we here really, Bekah, because it certainly feels like this is about more than just a hypothetical gold mine of wood that could be used to wipe out your family."

"Damon's family kept the logging records," she whispered. "He knows where the wood is, or at least has some sort of record in that house of his, and I intend to find it." She paused, her head tilting to the side. "Do you think that if I seduced him, I could kill him and find the records?"

There were so many things that just seemed wrong about that statement, but Artemis just kept her mouth shut. She knew that Bekah and Matt had sort of had a thing going, but based on the time that she had spent with her sister-in-law, she figured that Bekah was one to get bored easily. Quick to fall in love, quick to fall out of love. Kol quite appreciated Matt, and based on what she had heard, the kid was shaping up to be a real gentleman. As much as she liked Bekah, Matt deserved so much better.

Suddenly, Bekah was on the move, stalking towards Damon and the redheaded woman that he was chatting up, and Artemis had no choice but to follow. "Look what the cat dragged in," Bekah said coolly, her attentions directed towards the woman.

"Easy there, Rebekah," Damon said, standing between them, although he was clearly on the woman's side. "You know, she used to beat men for sport."

Rebekah smirked, as if this little tidbit of information didn't surprise or scare her. "She was always quite common," she commented offhandedly.

"Rebekah," the woman replied evenly. "What a happy surprise."

"What are you doing here, Sage?"

"Well, I heard that Finn was finally freed from that casket that your rageaholic brother carted him around in," Sage replied in a biting tone, anger barely held back from her expression.

"Nik separated you from your love too?" Artemis asked, her head tilting to one side. She didn't know that Finn had a wife as well.

"Yes, for almost 900 years," Sage replied, a surprised look crossing her face, as if she just noticed that Artemis was standing there. "Who are you?"

"I'm Artemis," she said with a smile, holding out her hand. "I'm Kol's wife."

Sage snorted. "I wasn't aware that that psychopath was married," she said, causing Artemis to draw back her hand.

"I'm sorry, but Finn isn't here anymore," Artemis whispered, looking down at the ground. "No one knows where he went. He just kind of disappeared one day."

Sage shrugged. "He probably went looking for me," she stated coolly.

"Or quite possibly, he forgot all about you," Rebekah shot back.

"I doubt that," Sage returned with a smile. "You see, if your psychopath of a brother could remember that he was married, then Finn wouldn't have forgotten about me."

Rebekah grinned. "Oh? Because he didn't seem to mention you," she stated smugly. "Sorry you came all this way for nothing. Have a nice life."

She tugged Artemis away from them, and back towards the ceremony that was happening. "You didn't have to be that harsh to her," Artemis scolded, almost positive that Sage was fuming over what Bekah had said. "She's just like me, back in town for her one true love."

Bekah scoffed. "She was never in love with Finn, and he was never in love with her," she replied bitterly. "Sage is nothing more than a trashy barmaid that my brother was infatuated with."

Artemis stopped and glared at Rebekah, as the girl turned back to look at her. "I was a tavern wench when Kol met me," she told her in a low, even tone, watching as surprise spread across Bekah's face. "What does that make me?"

"Well, you're different," Bekah tried to backtrack, but Artemis held up her hand.

"I'm really not, and I would appreciate it if you would continue on this venture without me," Artemis said as cordially as she could muster, before heading off to a different part of the crowd, where she could watch the rest of the mayor's speech without being interrupted.

* * *

Artemis could sense a presence next to her, but didn't say a word. After the conversation she had had with Rebekah, she wasn't in the mood to speak with anyone else, but the person next to her surprised her.

"It seems as though the Mikealsons have a habit of falling for barmaids," Sage said casually. "What did Klaus say when he found out that you and Kol were married? I bet he had a field day with that one."

"He doesn't know anything about me, other than the fact that I'm married to his brother and I don't stay dead," Artemis replied smoothly, her gaze still never leaving the men in bright vests who walked up and down the bridge.

"Ugh, he just annoys me so much," Sage growled. "I swear, there's nothing more that I want to do than drive a stake through his heart."

Artemis laughed. "That would require one to be able to find the last of the white oak," she said. "And for all of them to be unlinked."

"What do you mean by unlinked?"

She turned to look at the redheaded vampire, an eyebrow raised. "Did Damon not tell you?" Artemis asked, and Sage shook her head. "Esther performed some sort of spell on them that links all of them together. What happens to one happens to them all. When Damon and his friends got ahold of Kol, they stuck a dagger through his heart and dessicated him. All of his siblings, save for Nik, got dessicated too, although Nik was severely weakened. I'm working off the assumption now that Damon wants to get his hands on the white oak and stab one of them, any of them, to kill them all."

Sage was silent for a moment. "Damon didn't tell me that," she mused. "I should probably go now."

Artemis was surprised as Sage simply disappeared from view, probably using her vampire speed to put as much distance as possible between herself and Artemis. She went back to enjoying the silence and the scenery, finding that the river that the Wickery Bridge crossed over was actually rather soothing. But it wasn't long before she sensed another presence beside her.

"Look, I'm only going to say this once, but I'm sorry," Bekah grumbled. "Clearly, I said some things that I shouldn't have said."

"There's not much of a difference between Sage and I," Artemis stated quietly. "We're both doing things for the ones that we love. We both come from the same background."

"But she was a trashy little thing, and, while my brother Finn is a mopey and whiny brat, he's still the oldest," Bekah said. "We all expected that if he fell in love, she would be a respectable girl, not someone like her, and then he turned her into one of us."

"I was no more respectable than Sage was when she was human," Artemis explained. "We all did what we had to do to survive. Not all of us had big brothers looking out for us."

"Well, either way, I'm going over to the Salvatore house for a drink tonight, so don't wait up," she said breezily, before disappearing as well, once again leaving Artemis alone.

* * *

Her phone buzzed, alerting her to a message as she sat folding her laundry. After the ceremony, she had gone about her normal Saturday routine, getting groceries, doing laundry, cleaning the house, etc. She had kept the routine for as long as she could remember, and it was helpful in keeping her wits about her. Artemis picked her phone up off the floor, and smiled as she read the message.

 _Climbed a 14er today. Do you know how tall these things are? I feel like I'm on top of the world! – Kol_

Accompanying the message were several pictures. The first was of Kol, standing next to a sign proclaiming that he had just climbed one of Colorado's 14ers, the highest peaks in all of the state. The second was of his view from the top of the mountain, which was positively breathtaking. And the third was a selfie of him and another boy, who she could only assume was Jeremy.

 _Looking good! – Artemis_

She put her phone back down and grabbed another pair of jeans to fold, before her phone buzzed again.

 _Have you ever been here before? It's beautiful! I love it! – Kol_

 _I was a teacher there in the late 1800s. Single room schoolhouse on the eastern plains. It was beautiful back then too. – Artemis_

She folded a few more sets of clothes without another message from Kol, and headed upstairs to put them into her dresser and closet. Just as she opened the first drawer, the door to her house burst open, and she could hear Bekah scream her name, and then saw her in the bedroom the next instant.

"We have to go," she said urgently. "Sage found where the white oak is. We have to destroy it before Damon figures out that we know."

Artemis had no choice but to follow Bekah to the bridge.

* * *

The flames of the bonfire burned high, casting shadows that danced on the trees in the dark. Artemis had to take a step back because of the heat that was rolling off of it. There was a certain intensity to the fire, but also a certain feeling of peace. The white oak, from the last tree that could kill her husband, was soon to be gone. There was nothing, for a while at least, that would be able to separate them again. She and Sage stood together, watching the fire from a distance, while Bekah stood close, waiting for Damon to arrive.

As if on cue, Damon's car screeched to a halt not far from the flames. He made a noise of frustration as he got out of his car, slamming the door shut and stalking towards Bekah.

"Your grand plans always seem to get ruined, don't they?" Rebekah said with a smug grin on her face, before Damon could speak. "Sorry to disappoint you, again." She turned and walked away from the flames, while Damon could only helplessly watch them burn. He turned to walk back to his car, and that's when Sage and Artemis chose to appear.

"You set me up," he growled, turning his anger to them.

"No," Sage replied. "We're just looking out for ourselves."

"And the ones that we love," Artemis added. "Just as you look out for Elena, we look out for Kol and Finn."

"I told you I'd save your creepy boyfriend!" Damon shouted, walking towards the pair. "And your psychopath of a husband, he was never our target, just Klaus!"

"You lied to me, Damon!" Sage shouted, getting into Damon's face. "The Originals are linked. If one dies, they all die. Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

They stared at one another for a moment, before Damon truly lost his temper. He reached out and grabbed Sage by the shoulders, slamming her against the door of his car. But Artemis was quick to react, grabbing Damon by the back of his neck and tossing him a few feet away from the car, causing him to land with a thud on the pavement.

"Did you really think we'd risk the lives of our loved ones for one of your petty revenge fantasies?" Artemis said in a low tone, looking down at him.

Damon laughed as he pulled himself off the ground. "You were supposed to help me," he said, looking at Artemis. "You were supposed to be on our side to help end all of this, but instead, you're with them. But it's okay, because you won't be with them much longer, once I tell the Founders' Council what you are."

Artemis smirked. "You can't," she told him. "The witch made sure of that."

Damon stepped closer, until they were almost nose to nose. "Not if I find a witch to reverse it," he whispered. "And if I promise them your blood, I'm sure I'd have witches lined up down the block." His attentions turned to Sage. "And you, let me tell you something," he said. "Your long lost love has a suicide wish. So when mama witch linked them together in a spell, he's the one that volunteered to die."

Sage shook her head vehemently. "He wouldn't do that."

"He didn't want to live," Damon continued. "Not for you, not for anyone. He doesn't love you, Sage, and when I do find another way to kill those Originals, I'll start with Finn." He whipped around to look at Artemis again. "Followed closely by Kol."

He got back into his car and peeled away, leaving Sage and Artemis to stare at the bonfire on the bridge, both rattled to their cores.

* * *

They were both silent as Artemis moved about the kitchen, preparing cups of tea for both of them. She still didn't know Sage that well, and had a feeling that Sage wasn't exactly her best friend. But right now, they had a common enemy in Damon Salvatore, a man who had made both of them feel unsafe in a matter of minutes. Both women had traveled the globe, trying to survive for another day, just in case that day was the day that their loved one came back. But then Damon came, and threatened to take that all away from them, everything that they had worked so hard to find again.

But Damon had also threatened Artemis's own identity. She had been very careful with who she revealed herself to, but telling Damon had been a moment of weakness. She had been desperate when she met him, and was actually rather ashamed of that one particular encounter, and the subsequent time that she had spent with him. Vampires were good sources of energy. Most vampires understood that what she was doing was simply to ensure her survival, similar to how they drank the blood of their victims. But Damon had believed they were something more, and tried to manipulate her into staying with him.

In the end, her heart still belonged to Kol, and she didn't will herself to fall in love with anyone that she slept with. Damon hadn't taken it too well, and that's when she had gotten a witch involved, who set a curse on him that he could not tell a single soul what she was. He always managed to find her again, however, and cashed in on "favors" that she had offered him during their time together in exchange for some of his energy. He was the only vampire that kept track of how many favors she owed him, and the only one to cash them in.

The tea kettle whistled, just as her phone began to vibrate again. She answered it just as she took the kettle off.

"You sound stressed," Kol said on the other end of the line, after a momentary pause.

She laughed. "How could you get that from a single word?" Artemis asked.

"Well, darling, I'd like to think that after six hundred years, I know you pretty well," he replied smoothly. "Is someone else there with you? I can hear them breathing."

Artemis sighed and switched her phone to speakerphone, setting it down on the table as she grabbed teabags out of the cupboard. "Yes, Sage is with me," she told him. "You remember Sage, Finn's girlfriend? She came back to town earlier today, looking for him."

Kol paused for a moment. "Sage? With the red hair?" he asked.

Sage nodded. "Yes, that's me," she said. "Hi Kol."

"Has she asked you how you take your tea yet?"

A startled look came across Sage's face as she looked down at the phone. "How did you know she was making tea?"

"Because that's what she does when she's stressed out," he told the other vampire.

"Oh," Sage said quietly. "I guess it's hard for me to imagine the two of you together, because of the impression you left on me when I first met you."

Kol sighed. "I saw myself as a sort of god, I think," he said honestly. "I saw myself as being more than human, some sort of monster, and I relished in it. And then Artemis came along, the one being I had ever been faced by that could actually stand ground against me. Over time, she sort of talked me down from the ledge, so to speak, and reminded me of what it was like to be human."

There was a short pause, before Artemis spoke. "So, how do you take your tea?"

"Just sugar, thank you," Sage whispered. "What does Kol mean, that you stood your ground against him?"

Artemis laughed. "That just means that he tried to drink my blood and found it the most foul thing he's ever tasted," she replied, setting the tea and sugar down in front of her. "He couldn't kill me. And that reminds me, we burned a bunch of white oak tonight, possibly the last white oak from that tree."

"That's amazing, darling!" Kol exclaimed. "Not that the existence of white oak would have prevented me from taking you around the world." They could hear a voice calling him in the background. "I have to go, darling, I'm going to a concert with a couple of friends. I love you."

"I love you too," she replied. "Have fun!"

They said their goodbyes, and hung up, leaving Sage and Artemis to drink their tea in peace. "He seems like a really great guy," Sage commented. "Quite different from when I first met him."

"He didn't know how to cope with becoming immortal," Artemis replied. "None of them did, and I still think a few of them struggle with it. That's why so many of them were daggered for so long. You get too comfortable, and that's when you make mistakes."

"You sound as though you speak from experience," Sage said.

Artemis could only nod. After all, there was a time when her kind was nearly hunted into extinction by the church. That's why she almost never told anyone that she was a succubus.


	6. Chapter 6

A succubus, at least according to Google, is a female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men.

Christianity invented its own story of succubi in the Middle Ages, classifying them as demons. They were hideous creatures that resembled women, and would sneak into the bedchambers of men at night to sleep with them, causing nocturnal emissions. The legend around their creation centers around Lilith, who was created from clay alongside Adam. She was expected to be subservient to Adam, but because they were created equally, she demanded to be treated as an equal. She was taken by Samael, the angel of death, and replaced with Eve, a woman literally made from Adam. Samael took pity on Lilith, made her his wife, and together, they created succubi and incubi, among other demons.

This was sort of true. Artemis's mother was actually named Lilith, but had lived at the dawn of civilization. She had been driven to insanity after Artemis and her twin brother, Apollo, were born. Looking back, if Artemis would have to guess, her mother had suffered from schizophrenia and hallucinations. She cast a spell on the entire village one day, simply because she believed that peoples' shadows were out to get them, that made everyone in the village stop aging once they reached full adulthood.

Lilith had never anticipated the downsides of her spell. Everyone that the spell was cast on was able to live seemingly forever, but they could not reproduce. Furthermore, they required sex to survive. Sex made life, and therefore gave life to them. Even if it wasn't sex by the traditional definition, but some form of intimate contact, and only with the consent of the individual.

The Middle Ages, when people got very prudish about sex, was when things changed, and forced everyone to go underground. Many of their kind had been slaughtered, including Artemis's own brother. Today, attitudes towards sex in most parts of the world were far more relaxed, but Artemis still kept her guard up. There were still those who considered her a demon, and still those who knew how to kill her.

* * *

"This is their mansion?" Sage asked, her eyes wide as she took in the gorgeous marble foyer. "How can they afford all of this?"

"Nik is some kind of famous artist apparently," Artemis replied with a shrug. "I'm sure they've also done their fair share of investing over time, or compelling people to give them money."

Sage laughed. "I never had to use compulsion to get what I wanted, just my womanly ways," she joked.

"Come on, you have to see the bathroom upstairs," Artemis said, pulling Sage along. "The tile is to die for."

As soon as they hit the top of the stairs, the doors burst open and a body came flying inside, followed by Nik and Bekah. Sage tensed, and Artemis could see that it was Finn lying on the floor of the foyer. Slowly, Sage made her way down the stairs, as Nik directed Finn's attention up to the descending woman. Artemis could see the sparks flying between the two of them as Sage hurried down the stairs and Finn scrambled to his feet. They embraced with Sage standing on the bottom step, her hands stroking his face gently. His hands held onto her waist as if he believed that if he let go, she would disappear.

"Artemis, come and help my witch," Nik said, looking between the newly reunited pair and the succubus on the stairs. "Let the lovebirds be for now." He led her to one of the numerous sitting rooms, where a girl with dark hair was hunched over an old spell book. She looked up when Artemis and Nik entered the room, and her eyes followed Artemis as she took a seat on the opposite couch.

"Is he holding you here too?" the girl asked when Nik left the room.

"No, I'm here on my own accord," Artemis replied. "Nik wanted me to bring Sage by because he had found Finn. They haven't seen one another in nearly 900 years, and I'm a sucker for a good reunion."

The girl paused, giving her a once-over. "You're Artemis," she said, with a hint of confidence. "Damon brought you here for that one dinner. He says that you're really old, and really strong, and that we shouldn't mess with you. Why are you still here?"

"Kol is my husband," she told the girl. "We've been married for a few centuries, but spent a few apart because of something a couple of angry villagers did. We just bought a house together, near the woods, and we're thinking about staying for a little while. Who are you?"

"Bonnie, Bonnie Bennett," Bonnie replied. "I'm a friend of Elena's, and I don't really like vampires."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know that the Bennett line still existed," she whispered. "You come from a very long, powerful line of witches. I can understand now why you're not a fan of vampires, but keep in mind that there are more creatures out there than just vampires, witches, and werewolves. Some of us have been hunted to extinction, but those of us that look human have been able to survive."

Before Bonnie could ask another question, Nik swept back into the room. "Tick tock," he said loudly. "I should hear chanting now, not stories of times long since past."

"I'm still studying the spell," Bonnie grumbled, her demeanor changing from being inquisitive to being closed off and serious, her attention snapping back down to the book in front of her. "It's not that easy, especially under duress."

"You've been warned," Nik threatened in a low tone, leaning down so he could speak into her ear. "If you're looking for a way to send for help, I will kill anyone who comes to the rescue."

"She's a teenager, Nik," Artemis cut in, rising to her feet. She could see that Nik was getting close to destroying this girl's life in any way that he could, desperate for the spell to be performed. Artemis was desperate to see the siblings unlinked as well, but not at the expense of the livelihood of another human being. "I understand that she's a powerful witch from a powerful bloodline, and that she's done some amazing things in the past, but she's still a teenager. She probably recently came into her powers. Do you remember what it was like when you were first turned into a vampire, and how hard it was to get control over the bloodlust? Bonnie is going through the same thing with her powers. You just have to have patience."

Nik was silent for a moment, sizing Artemis up. "Very well," he decided. "Perhaps she just needs a little more motivation." He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed a number.

It hit her before he even held the phone up to his ear that he was probably calling Kol. Everything clicked in her head. The reason that Kol had been sent to Denver was because Jeremy was in Denver. Jeremy was Elena's brother, and Bonnie was Elena's friend, but perhaps there was more of a connection than that?

"Kol," Nik greeted. "How's the weather up there in Mile High City? And how's our friend?" He paused, waiting for a response. "That's him," Nik replied. He held the phone away from his ear, and moved to stand beside Bonnie, showing her the device's screen. "There's Jeremy, playing fetch with his new puppy. Isn't that just the most adorable thing you've ever seen? Thank you, Kol, we'll be in touch." He hung up the phone, and turned his attention back to the girl. "So, Bonnie, how about that spell?"

Artemis now knew for sure that there was some connection between Jeremy and Bonnie that went far deeper than just being the sibling of a friend, as she watched Bonnie fight back tears in her eyes. The girl nodded at Nik, before taking her seat on the couch and looking back down at the spellbook. Nik smirked triumphantly at Artemis before leaving the room. Artemis reached for her own phone, and dialed a number of her own.

"Hello, darling," the masculine voice on the other end of the line answered. "Funny how you call just after my brother did."

"Then perhaps you already know what I'm calling about," Artemis replied, switching to speakerphone. "It's about that assignment that Nik gave you. I'm here with Bonnie Bennett, a witch of the Bennett line, who's working to unlink you, and Jeremy is a special person to her. Nik's holding him over her head, and stressing her beyond belief. He's innocent in all of this, Kol. You know how I feel about spilling innocent blood."

"Are you suggesting that I disobey the orders of my controlling older brother in favor of a request that I follow my morals from my beautiful wife?" he asked, amusement dancing in his voice. "How could I say no to you, darling, especially knowing that this boy is the loved one of a Bennett witch? No offense to you, Bonnie, but the last thing I want is to be on the bad side of a Bennett witch."

"That's all I ask of you," Artemis said softly. "I love you, and I miss you. Perhaps I will come and visit you soon."

"That would be a dream, darling," Kol replied with a chuckle. "I love and miss you too."

They each said goodbye before hanging up. "Kol is a man of his word," Artemis whispered. "No harm will come to Jeremy."

"I thought Kol was a cold-blooded killer," Bonnie said with confusion. "That's what all of his siblings told us."

"There's some truth to that, but his days of merciless killings are all behind him," Artemis replied with a sad smile on her face. "It was always Nik, Elijah, and Bekah. Finn was in that coffin long before I came around. Kol was always on the outside, and just wanted someone to love him. I fell deeply and madly in love with him, and he with me. Being separated from him was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. I just got him back, and I don't want to lose him again. That's why I'm helping you in any way that you need."

Bonnie nodded slowly. "I can understand that."

A scream of pain cut through their conversation, causing both of them to jump. Nik chose that moment to reappear in the doorway, causing Bonnie to turn on him in anger. "What was that?" she demanded.

Nik shrugged. "Just Rebekah having some fun," he explained. "Artemis, change of plans. I'm going to need you to keep an eye on Finn and Sage. It appears Sage is determined to introduce Finn to all aspects of the modern world, starting with the best alcohol Mystic Falls has to offer. Bonnie and I will work on the spell together."

Artemis looked between Nik and Bonnie, before nodding her head stiffly, despite the witch silently begging her not to leave. She once again fished her phone out of her pocket, and pressed it into Bonnie's hands. "If you need anything, you know who you can call," she said softly. "I must leave you now."

"But how will I contact you?" Bonnie asked, looking between the woman and the phone. "I mean, to give you your phone back?"

"I'm sure that our paths with cross again sometime soon," Artemis replied, a sad smile on her face. "Goodbye, Bonnie, and good luck. I know that you can do it."

She left the Mikealson mansion without another word.

* * *

"You've never had tequila before?" Sage was asking Finn as Artemis slid into the booth next to her. The redhead was shocked that her partner had never experienced the love-hate relationship of tequila. "That's embarrassing. Seriously, I'm embarrassed for you." She poured a line of salt down Finn's wrist, and then demonstrated how to properly do a shot of tequila: Lick the salt, down the drink, and bite the lime.

"Happy now?" Finn asked her, his lips puckered together after taking the shot.

She shook her head. "Lime," she told him, before placing the lime wedge in her mouth.

Finn copied her actions, and sucked in a sharp breath as the citrus flavor hit his tongue. "I'm truly awed by the evolution of mankind," he said, causing both Artemis and Sage to laugh.

"If you liked that, then you're going to love flavored vodka," Artemis told him with a smile, as Sage greeted another patron in the Grille.

The smile faded from Finn's face as he watched the interaction between the woman he loved and the random passerby. Artemis knew that Sage, like herself, had never stopped loving him, but she had needs, physical needs, that had sometimes caused her body to stray. The concept of casual sex was still one that Finn was trying to digest, and seeing a random man that could have been one of her past lovers wasn't helping.

"You know him?" he asked her softly, as if he was dreading the answer.

"I turned him," Sage replied evenly. Creating a new vampire was not a big deal to her.

"You turned him," Finn echoed in surprise, his eyebrows raising. "Why?"

"Because I'm in enemy territory," she whispered, leaning forwards. "When your brother and sister called, I thought I might need a little back-up. You can't trust anyone here." At that point, Matt came to clear off their table, but Sage's hand grabbed his wrist, causing the young man to look at her in surprise. "Some more tequilas?" she asked him.

The stressed expression on Matt's face broke out into a smile. "All right, cool," he said with a chuckle. "I'll let your waitress know."

As Sage and Finn smiled at one another, Artemis excused herself to the bathroom, but really followed Matt back over to the bar. He was surprised to see her standing there, almost a bit frightened, but Artemis tried to send her a reassuring smile. "Hey, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright," she said softly. "I know that Sage can be a little strong sometimes, and that she might not remember her own strength."

A confused expression came across his face. "I'm fine," he told her. "Why would you care anyway?"

Now it was Artemis's turn to look confused. "What do you mean, why would I care?" she asked, her head tilting to one side. "Kol likes you, and says that you're a good person. Why would I not care if a good person got hurt?"

"Because you're like them," Matt replied simply, grabbing some shot glasses from behind the bar to fill with tequila. "Your tequila will be right out."

"I can assure you, Matt, that Kol and I are not the people you seem to think we are," she whispered, before turning and heading back to her table. Matt came by and dropped the three tequila shots off, much to Sage's delight. He refused to make eye contact with Artemis.

The three of them prepared their lines of salt on their wrists, and snagged lime wedges off of the dish that Matt had placed on the table. But when the tequila hit their lips, Sage and Finn started coughing and sputtering, as if the sting of the alcohol was greater than they expected.

"What the hell?" Sage exclaimed, grabbing her glass of water and trying to wash the foul taste out of her mouth.

"Vervain," Finn growled, his eyes scanning the Grille. They landed on Stefan Salvatore, as he slipped out the back door. Finn and Sage rose to their feet, their faces twisted in scowls, prepared to go after the younger vampire.

"No, wait," Artemis told them sternly. "Stop and think about it for a minute. Vervain in your drinks, one of your biggest enemies conveniently slipping out right as you taste the vervain, and a brother who is hellbent on killing every Original vampire? What does that tell you?"

Finn paused. "I can't be killed," he reminded Artemis, looking between her and Sage. "Sage told me. The last of the white oak was burned the other night. We're back to being invincible again."

Artemis shook her head. "I know Damon Salvatore, and I know one of his plans when I see one," she whispered. "They've figured out something, and singled you out as their target. Perhaps they're only looking to neutralize you and your siblings, but there's still risk involved. That's why the two of you are going to stay here, call Nik, and tell him what's going on, okay?"

They both sat down slowly, but nodded, with Sage pulling her phone out of her pocket to dial the number. Artemis made her way over to the back door, and caught Matt's eye from behind the bar as she left. He looked surprised, to say the least, as his eyes darted between Artemis and the pair sitting at the table. It was clear that he had been part of the plan, and Artemis could only shoot him a sad smile as she pushed the door open cautiously.

She hadn't gotten more than a few steps outside the building when a figure appeared and shoved a wooden stake into her chest, the dull wood skewering her heart and lungs. Blood began to seep out of the gaping hole that the stake had opened up, and she looked up to see Stefan staring at her in shock. Her heart beat rapidly and uncoordinatedly, trying to pump out whatever blood it could to prevent her cells from dying, as her breathing was reduced to rapid gasps, trying to suck in as much oxygen as possible.

"Oh my god," she heard Stefan say as she fell back against the brick wall of the Grille, slowly sliding down to the ground. He sounded miles away, despite the fact that her blurry vision could still place him not far from her. The door next to her opened again, and Stefan was quickly replaced with Finn and Sage.

"Quick, Finn, your blood," she could hear Sage say, and she tried to say no, but it was too late. Finn's wrist was against her mouth, a slow trickle of warm liquid hitting her tongue. It was not more than seconds later when her muscles seized. Her skin crawled and burned, as if she were covered by fire ants. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she began to cough violently, her body attempting to reject the vampire blood that acted like a poison to her system.

The stake was ripped out of her body, allowing her wounds to bleed freely. Her coughing grew worse as blood began to fill her lungs, and the darkness of death took over.

* * *

The clock at the bedside read 4:19 when Artemis regain consciousness. She recognized that she was in Kol's old room at the Mikaelson mansion. So this was where she had been brought following her death. Artemis could feel that most of the internal damage had been repaired, and only a large, dark red splotch remained on her chest, from where blood had pooled from the broken vessels. Her heart raced, and she assumed that it was because she still had a low blood volume that the muscle was trying to distribute as widely as possible. Overall, she knew that she would be okay.

There was a figure next to her, sitting in one of the comfy chairs that had been dragged to the side of the bed. They were slumped over, their head resting on the mattress. Artemis could tell that it was Bonnie sleeping next to her. She was surprised, to say the least. If the spell had been completed, she imagined that Bonnie would have gotten as far away as possible, but for some reason, she was still here.

"Bonnie," she said softly, shaking the girl's shoulder. "Bonnie, wake up."

The younger girl sat up with a gasp, her eyes wide with surprise. "You're alive!" she exclaimed quietly. "When Finn and Sage brought you in, they were certain that you would never wake up, because your body rejected Finn's blood, but Klaus made them put you up here. He said that you would wake up."

"You're still here," Artemis whispered with a frown. "Why? Did Nik not let you leave?"

Bonnie shook her head. "He's angry," she said. "He made me stay. He was going to let me leave, but Finn and Sage dragged you in at just the right moment. Klaus was so mad that he made me stay up here, with you, and told me that if for some reason you didn't wake up, he would do to my mom and Jeremy what my friends did to you."

"Oh honey," Artemis said, feebly wrapping her arms around Bonnie as tears started to fall from the girl's eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"He threatened my mom and my boyfriend over that spell," she sobbed. "I had no choice but to do it, to keep them safe, but what was the cost?"

She pulled the girl onto the bed, allowing Bonnie to rest her head on her shoulder as she cried. One hand stroked her hair as she cried, while she murmured apologies and promises of protection. Artemis already had a plan in her head, a safe house that she knew Bonnie would be able to go to in the morning.

* * *

When Kol had gotten the call from Bonnie, he was on the next flight that got him anywhere remotely near Mystic Falls. He explained to Jeremy that he was going to visit his fiancée, who was a college student at the University of Virginia, while he was a student at the University of Denver. It was a believable lie, and perhaps Jeremy would one day find out that they were married, but not anytime soon.

He arrived back in Mystic Falls just as the sun was beginning to rise. The house was quiet when he walked through the door, and he rather suspected that something had happened the night before. Kol could smell blood from one of the rooms off the foyer, and wasn't surprised to see it pooled on a tarp. He knew that Bekah and Nik had gotten their hands on some white oak stakes, but there were still two out there that could be used to kill him and his siblings.

Kol climbed the stairs quietly, and opened the door to his old room. There was Artemis, the love of his life, sleeping soundly. She was paler than normal, and he could clearly see the dark half-moon bags that hung under her eyes. From what he understood, last night had been rough for her. It had apparently also been rough for the girl who was curled up against his wife's side, her eyes puffy from crying. This must be Bonnie.

He leaned over the edge of the bed and kissed his wife gently, feeling her draw in some of his energy to heal herself. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, a wide grin spreading across her face as he broke the kiss. "You're here," she whispered hoarsely.

"Of course I'm here," he murmured, returning her smile. "When Bonnie called, I bought a ticket on the next flight out. Or, rather, I compelled the gate agent to put me on the standby list, and got on the first flight with an open seat. You're coming back to Colorado with me. Things here are threatening to boil over, and I don't want you to be in the crosshairs."

"I do miss the mountains," Artemis whispered. "There's something that we have to do first. I don't want Nik threatening Bonnie any more. I know a safe house in West Virginia that I want to take her to."

"Anything, darling," he replied. Witches held a special spot in his heart, and he could never stand to see his brother treat them so callously, especially one of the Bennett bloodline.

* * *

Lucille Atteberry was a tiny woman with bright red hair that seemed to stick up in every direction. Kol and Bonnie were both rather surprised by her eccentric appearance, but Artemis embraced her wholeheartedly.

"Come in, come in," Lucille exclaimed, ushering her three guests inside. She gasped when she saw Bonnie's rumpled clothes and distressed appearance. "Alexandra! Come and show Miss Bennett where she can shower, and get her some fresh clothes!"

Alexandra, Lucille's daughter, appeared at the top of the stairs. She had inherited her mother's hair color, but wore it piled on the top of her head in a messy bun. Alex had recently graduated from college, and had been fortunate enough to work for a web design company that allowed her to work remotely. Lucille was more than just eccentric in appearance, and without Alex, she would probably forget things left and right.

"Aunt Artemis," Alex greeted with a warm smile and a hug. "And you must be Uncle Kol. I've heard stories about you."

He was surprised when she hugged him too, and it took him a moment to return the gesture. "All good stories, I hope," he chuckled.

"You must be Bonnie," Alex said, turning her attention to the younger witch. "I'm Alex, and this is my mom, Lucille. We're of the Atteberry line. It's a huge honor to have a Bennett witch in our home."

Bonnie hesitated. "Thanks, I guess," she replied softly.

Alex beamed. "Come on, I'll show you to your room and grab you some fresh clothes," she said, tugging the girl gently towards the stairs. "You look like you've had a rough couple of days."

Kol was taken aback by the woman's hospitality. Lucille was a witch, who was normally the enemy of a vampire. He knew that Bonnie was wary around him, and hadn't taken her eyes off of him for the entire car ride over, even as Artemis engaged her in polite conversation. It seemed strange that this woman so readily invited her into his home.

"Well, it would be rude to kill a hostess in her own home, you know," Lucille told him, shaking her mashed potato-covered wooden spoon in his direction when he had asked her. "And you're Artemis's husband. She's a good judge of character. Knew my husband was the worst the moment she met him."

"Aunt Artemis really helped mama out," Alex said softly, appearing in the kitchen. "My father was a deadbeat who loved to kick mama around, and somehow managed to stifle her magic. She helped mama get her magic back and kick daddy to the curb."

He later found out that the Atteberry line was a very powerful, ancient line of witches, but that Lucille and Alex were the last ones. Although they were the most powerful, and had thousands of ancestors to channel, Alex was the end of the line. Not that Alex particularly imagined that she would be the end. She was seeing a local boy, a lawyer, that she was getting serious with. Artemis had gasped with joy when Alex had shown off the diamond on her finger, blushing over the one that she had fallen for.

The table was set as Bonnie came down from the bathroom upstairs, looking refreshed from the shower that she had taken. It was a comfort food feast, with chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts, and corn bread. Kol had never seen some of these foods in his life, but took seconds of nearly every single one.

The only person who looked slightly uncomfortable at the dinner table was Bonnie, whose eyes kept shifting over to Kol. "Why is he sitting at the table?" she eventually asked, interrupting the happy chatter that had been taking place around the table. She turned to look at Lucille. "How could you even invite him into your home?"

"Why would he not be welcome in my home, or at this table, dear?" Lucille replied, the smile never leaving her face. "He's Artemis's husband. She's been family to us for a very long time. That makes him family too."

"But he's a vampire," Bonnie pressed. "He's unnatural, and an enemy of the witches."

Kol opened his mouth, preparing to defend himself, but Artemis rested her hand on his knee, and shot him a look that told him to keep his mouth shut. She knew that Bonnie wouldn't listen to Kol, but she might listen to Lucille.

"We're all a little unnatural here, dearie," Lucille responded with a chuckle. "I'm a witch, Alexandra is a witch, Artemis is, well, Artemis, Kol is a vampire, and you're a witch. I think we make a pretty complete set. But, more importantly, we all seek balance. Us witches help to preserve the balance of nature, but Kol and Artemis seek a balance of life. In order to continue their survival, they take bits and pieces of the life forces of other beings. And that is also a balance, just of a different kind."

"But they're monsters," Bonnie countered fiercely. "They're abominations. They kill for their life forces."

"And so do we," Lucille replied, taking a sip of water. She chuckled at Bonnie's obvious confusion. "Did you think that all witches do are simple magics, like locator spells, and not a single one harms humans in the process? There are some dark cults out there, those who practice blood magic and necromancy. Does that mean that witches as a whole are inherently evil? No, because there are plenty of witches that don't touch the darkness. You can't judge the entire vampire race based off of those that you've met, because there are some good apples out there. Like Kol."

Bonnie studied Lucille intently for a moment, her brain processing everything that the woman had told her. She turned to Kol, a guarded expression on her face. "Are you a monster?" she asked quietly.

"I like to believe that I'm not," he replied honestly, as Artemis gently squeezed his knee. "In the past, there is no doubt in my mind that I was. I killed scores of humans because I believed that I was a monster, and it was what monsters were supposed to do. I suppose I had a sort of god complex that spilled over from my human life. I was once a witch, and even then thought myself superior. But Artemis changed that all for me. She broke me down, taught me how to appreciate humans again, and become a better vampire. I haven't killed a human in centuries now."

There was silence at the table, while Bonnie continued to stare at Kol. She nodded once, showing that she understood what he had told her, but not that she necessarily was ready to speak with him again.

"Well," Lucille spoke, clapping her hands together. "Dessert, anyone?"


	7. Chapter 7

Artemis was delighted to be back in Colorado. She had always found the mountain air to be refreshing, and the majestic backdrop made her feel alive again. Kol had laughed at the delighted expression on her face, after being pressed up against the plane window for so long. She loved the small condo that he had found on the edge of the city, and was not surprised to find that Jeremy and the family that he was staying with were their new neighbors. Kol introduced her as his fiancée, who was studying at the University of Virginia, which Jeremy seemed to believe.

Jeremy spent a decent amount of time at their home. Kol blamed it on Artemis's cookies. It had taken her decades to perfect the recipe, and she her heart swelled with pride as the teenager declared they were the best he'd ever tasted. Like clockwork, he would be at their place after school, munching on a fresh batch of cookies while Artemis helped him with homework. She was an education major, she explained, and he had asked for help before she could even offer it.

Kol was a volunteer coach for a little league team, as he claimed that the only thing that hadn't changed in this world was how the game of baseball was played. He had also been helping Jeremy, since he had shown an interest in joining the baseball team at his school. Together, Artemis and Kol had been helping him to become more engaged in academics and extra curricular, by simply paying attention to him.

"Do you even sleep at home anymore?" Artemis jokingly asked one morning, as he was waking up after spending the night on their couch. She placed a plate of pancakes and bottle of syrup on the table for him, as he stretched and rubbed his eyes.

"They don't feed me like you do," he grumbled, pulling himself off the couch and padding over to the table.

"At least take the spare bedroom, would you?" Kol said as he swept into the room. "That's why we have it, after all, for guests planning on staying more than one night."

Jeremy nodded. "Okay," he replied, between bites of pancake. "Look, I'm gonna head to the batting cages after school today. Meet you guys there?"

Artemis and Kol looked at one another, and shrugged. "Yeah, we'll be there," Artemis said for the both of them.

* * *

They arrived at the batting cages at about 3 in the afternoon, shortly after Jeremy told them that he would be there. They both bundled up against the chilly air, but smiled warmly as they walked hand and hand. Jeremy spotted them, from the other side of two figures that had their backs turned. Artemis and Kol both waved as Jeremy gestured to them.

"Can we do this later?" he asked the two figures. "My friends just got here, and yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you guys when I'm done." He kissed the girl's cheek as he passed, making his way to his two friends and greeting them.

"Damon, it's Kol!" Elena exclaimed, panic and recognition flooding her face.

A pit of dread formed in Artemis's stomach as she watched Damon turn around, his eyes flaring in shock and anger. "Jeremy, get back," he shouted. "He's an Original, and she's no better!"

Jeremy's face fell, a betrayed expression crossing his face. "Is that true?" he asked, hurt evident in his voice as he took a few steps backwards.

"It's true," Kol confirmed after a moment. "My brother, along with your sister and her boyfriend, seem to think that I'm here to harm you. Nik ordered me to use you as leverage against Bonnie, but we don't believe in harming innocents."

"Bonnie is safe," Artemis told him softly, as his gaze shifted to her. "She's at a safe house, outside of Nik's grasp, with two witches that are far more powerful than anyone that Nik could find. We wanted to make sure that you were safe from Nik's threats too, and to do that, you couldn't know who we were. But your sister is here now. You'll be safe with her."

"We don't expect you to believe us, and I know that we've violated the trust that you placed in us, but we do hope that one day, you'll be able to forgive what we've done," Kol continued. "We'll take out leave now. Goodbye, Jeremy."

They turned, leaving Jeremy with Elena and Damon, but not before they heard the splintering of wood. Before anyone could react, Damon had shoved the splintered handle of a baseball bat through Artemis's stomach, causing her to fall forward. Jeremy and Elena gasped as Kol caught his wife, yanking the end of the bat out as he cradled her head. He brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as blood began to spill from her mouth.

"You didn't have to do that, Damon," Jeremy shouted, a hint of anger in his voice.

"For the bonfire," Damon told Kol darkly, his eyes meeting the angry Original's.

"They were letting me leave," Jeremy growled at his sister and Damon. "They were walking away from me."

"Never trust an Original," Damon spat back, before stalking away, leaving Jeremy and Elena with no choice but to follow him.

* * *

"Do you understand what you've done?" Nik seethed from the other end of the line.

"Reunited two siblings, and got my wife killed in the process?" Kol answered humorlessly, as he sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Artemis's hair.

"You allowed a medium to get back into contact with someone hoping to have him contact the dead," Nik told him angrily. When Kol didn't say anything, Nik continued. "They tried to kill Finn that night that they accidentally skewered your wife. But, more importantly, they've somehow discovered that the death of one of us wipes out our entire bloodline. They still want to kill us all, except for the one who turned them. Now, they know Katerina turned the Salvatores, and that she was turned by Rose, but they don't know that it was Mary Porter who turned Rose. I bet they're using Jeremy to contact her right now."

"They can't know who turned Mary," Kol said in a low tone.

"That's why you're going to kill her," Nik replied smugly. "She lives in Wyoming, all alone. From what I understand, killing her would be a mercy."

Kol sat for a moment, looking down at his sleeping wife, the decision weighing on his mind. "Alright," he agreed. "Where can I find her?"

* * *

"Like _Vampire Hoarders_ ," Kol heard Damon whisper as he, and presumably Elena, entered Mary Porter's house. Kol knew that the old newspapers and phone books were piled high, and that the remnants of Mary's past littered the hallways.

The female voice confirmed that Elena was in the house with him, as the pair bickered back and forth. Kol was surprised that Damon had come across Mary Porter during his lifetime, but not surprised to hear Elena scoff at the exact reason why. He was tired of listening to the two of them talk, and banged his baseball bat against the floor to draw their attention. He was also tired of staring at Mary Porter's body hanging from the wall. It wasn't long before the pair entered the room Kol waited in, and the beam of Elena's flashlight landed on the body.

"Mary…" Damon whispered, as Elena gasped in shock.

"Quite contrary," Kol finished, turning on the light on the table next to him. Both Damon and Elena turned to look at him, clearly not expecting him to be sitting in Mary's house. "Shame about Mary," he continued, rising from his seat and walking over to where Mary's corpse was pinned against the wall. "She used to be a blast. I don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."

He had been the one to bring Mary into the family, the sweet and gentle human girl. It had been only about 200 years since they had been turned, back when Kol was still able to appreciate the occasional human. Mary had fallen in love with him, and then fallen in love with all of his siblings, including his sister. She bounced around all of them for months before Nik finally lost control and turned her. With the transition to vampire came a change in her. She was no longer sweet and loving, but cruel and sadistic, killing far more humans that Kol ever had. So Nik had compelled her to become a hermit, to shun the world. Her existence, save for the occasional companion, had clearly been lonely and miserable. Nik had been right. This was a mercy killing, and far overdue.

"Were you her favorite?" Elena asked him, her guard still up.

"You mean, did I turn her?" he countered, asking the question that was really on her mind. "I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah, who called her the sister she never had. But there was also the Klaus period, where she couldn't get enough of him, and let's not forget the Elijah affair. We even brought Finn out of retirement for a bit because we all adored her so much. I'm not really sure who turned her." He paused, letting his story sink in. "I spoke to my brother, and I know what you're trying to do. Now, you never will."

He brought the bat down hard on the back of Damon's knee, and grinned with satisfaction as the younger vampire crumpled to the ground. Elena cried out as Kol went for the elbow next, then the shoulder and the ribs. Damon called for Elena to leave, and she tried to pass through the door, but Kol was faster.

"My quarrel isn't with you, but don't tempt me," he said in a low, dangerous tone. "This is my revenge, for all the times that he has had my wife killed, and for all the times that you have tried to kill one of my siblings. Artemis has done nothing against you, and Finn has done you no harm, yet they are the ones you target, as if their deaths would mean anything to my brother, the one you really want." He scoffed, bringing the bat down across Damon's back. "Pathetic."

He smashed the bat a few more times before calling it even, leaving Elena to clean up his mess as he strolled out the back door of Mary's house.

* * *

Artemis was sitting in their kitchen, drinking a cup of tea that she had brewed when he walked through the door. The kettle was still warm on the stove, and he helped himself to his own cup. Tonight had been stressful for him, seeing Mary Porter in the state that she had been in, how she had hissed that it was all his fault.

"Cabinet on the far left, middle shelf," Artemis whispered, pulling him out of his thoughts. He opened the cabinet door and scanned the self until he found the bottle of honey that was sitting there. She always remembered that he took his tea with honey, and grinned to himself as he stirred some in.

"I killed Mary Porter tonight," he confessed, as he took a sip of his tea. "She was this lovely, sweet human girl that I introduced to my family long before we met. I think I was in love with her, but she was not in love with me, and used me and my family to her own advantage. In the end, after she was turned, she became nasty and bitter, and was compelled to forever be a hermit. I put an end to her miserable, lonely existence, the one that I had brought her into."

"Is that why I never met your family?" Artemis asked, and Kol shrugged. "I mean, I have been killed quite a few times since I've been introduced to them."

He chuckled dryly. "I suppose that would be the reason," he murmured.

There was silence again as Kol took the seat opposite of her at the table, before Artemis spoke. "I spoke to Bonnie today," she said softly. "She's enjoying her time with Lucille and Alex, but there's this decade dance or something at school that she wants to go to. From what I can gather, everyone dresses up and they dance to music from that time period or something. It's the 1920s this year. I want to go back to Virginia and keep an eye on her."

"That makes sense," Kol replied. "My siblings have told stories of the 1920s. Was it really as great as they claim?"

"For those who could afford it," she said with a snort. "Women living off family money, or married to rich men with money to spend had a good time. I worked, as a schoolteacher, on the plains, far away from the extravagances of the city. I never experienced what your siblings experienced."

An idea began to form in Kol's head. "You know what, darling, you look a little tired," he said, leaning forward. "Why don't you head on up to bed? I'll join you in a minute."

Artemis stood up and took her cup over to the sink. "I'll see you there soon," she said with a smile. "I have a feeling we won't be sleeping anytime soon, though."

Kol chuckled as he watched her walk towards the bedroom, her hips swaying a little bit more than usual. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed his sister's number. "Hey, Bekah, I have a favor to ask you…"


	8. Chapter 8

_England, 1417_

 _"Don't look so disgusted, darling," Kol told her as he dropped the woman he had drained dry to the ground. He wiped the remainder of the woman's blood from his lips, and grinned. "I'm a monster. Humans are inferior to me in every way."_

 _Artemis shook her head. "You are inferior to humans," she countered, taking a step closer to him. "We both are. We are strong and immortal, but both of those qualities depend on humans. Without human blood, a vampire would cease to exist. Ye forget that ye were once human as well, just like them. Are you really a monster, Kol Mikaelson, or are ye just angry?"_

 _The vampire scoffed. "And how do ye suggest that I drink the blood of a human without killing them?"_

 _Her eyes lit up with an idea. "Come to Africa with me," she said, excitement edging into her voice. "There's a coven there that hath taught me many wonderful things. They understand the spells that created us, and made us the way we are now. They taught me how to feed off people without killing them, and blend into society. I also think they have this special potion, ye would probably recognize it as frëma blödh, that will instantly replenish blood. Ye wouldn't have to kill a single human to feed ever again."_

 _"Thine solution is witches?" Kol questioned, stepping towards her until they were nose to nose. "Witches, darling, the ones who hunt our kinds to the ends of the earth?"_

 _"This coven follows a different philosophy," she whispered. "Just come with me."_

 _Slowly, he nodded. He had never been to Africa, and had known Artemis for all of three months. But something about her had gained his trust, and suddenly packing up everything and heading to Africa didn't seem so crazy after all._

* * *

"What were the 1920s really like?" Bonnie asked as Artemis started to fix her hair.

The older woman sighed. "There was so much to marvel about, so many wonderful things around," she said. "Electricity was becoming big, and it made life so much easier. You could go to theaters and watch moving pictures, go to speakeasies and live on the criminal side, and women were finally allowed to vote. That was a big change." Artemis smiled as she remembered living in New York City in the early twenties, before she left for the great frontier. "There was a lot of darkness lurking under the surface. Organized crime, everyone purchasing on credit, and rampant poverty, but the lights were beautiful."

"Did you ever wear your hair like this?" Bonnie examined the intricate pinned-up curls that Artemis had arranged her hair into while she asked her question.

"I never got to," Artemis said with a sad smile, which Bonnie was too distracted to notice. "I never had the occasion to wear my hair like that, but I saw it styled that way by all the hot movie stars of the time. Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, Theda Bara… they all wore their hair like that. And now you get to." She moved the last strand into place, and pinned it down. "There. You're all ready for your dance now. Go on, and have a good time."

Bonnie turned to thank her, but could barely contain the grin that she was trying to hold back. "I have a surprise for you," she told Artemis, before grabbing her hands and pulling her out the door and down the stairs. Standing at the bottom of the stairs was Kol, looking as though he had just stepped out of the 1920s. Buster Keaton, her mind went to, as her eyes traveled up and down his form.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Not that I don't want to see you, but I didn't expect that you would be here, at Bonnie's house, before a school dance."

Kol shrugged. "I might have pulled some strings with Rebekah, and gotten her to agree to me chaperoning the dance for the night," he replied casually, swinging around a garment bag that had been sitting on his shoulder. He held it out to her with a smile on his face. "The only thing I'm missing for the night is a date, and Bekah helped me out with that too."

Artemis took the garment bag from Kol, and unzipped it to reveal the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. "Why?" she asked softly.

"It didn't seem like the 1920s was your favorite time," he told her with a smile. "I wasn't there for you then, but I'm here for you now, and the least I can do is try to make some happy memories from that unhappy time. Come on now, Bonnie has agreed to help you with your hair and makeup. The dance is only an hour away."

* * *

She looked stunning. Although Kol hadn't actually seen the 1920s, he had looked at photographs. The woman in front of him looked like as though she had stepped out of one. The emerald green dress she wore fell just past her knees, and was enriched by black lace detailing. Her hair was pinned up in curls, held back by a band. Theda Bara, she had told him, was her inspiration for the night, her crimson lips smiling as she recounted all the details she knew about one of her favorite actresses. Artemis patiently attempted to teach him the Charleston, before a waltz came on over the speakers.

"I know this one already, darling," he whispered in her ear, pulling her close.

"Thank you, Kol," she replied, a smile on her lips. "This is the most fun I've had in a while. I really appreciate it."

"Of course," he said. "It's getting late, though. What do you say we slip out a little early, head home, put on a kettle, and watch one of those movies you so enjoy from the 1920s?" He leaned in closer, so that his lips were touching the shell of her ear. "There's something else I think we can do too," he whispered, sending shivers down her spine. "You look ravishing in that dress, darling, but I think you look more ravishing without it."

Artemis gasped dramatically, clutching her string of pearls. "Why, Mr. Mikealson, what a rascal you are!" she exclaimed, before smiling and placing her hand on his cheek. "Will your sister mind greatly if one of the chaperones dips out?"

Kol shrugged. "I'm not sure," he replied honestly. "I haven't seen her all night."

"That's because she doesn't appear to be here," Damon said, suddenly appearing at their side, with Nik standing just behind him. Kol and Artemis both raised their eyebrows at the strange pairing. "It seems mama Original is back, and more powerful than ever. We need your witchy expertise to help out our favorite witch."

Kol sighed. "It looks like that cup of tea will have to wait, darling," he said softly, before taking her hand and following Damon and Nik through the mess of teenagers in the gymnasium.

* * *

Artemis and Kol stared down at the map that Bonnie had ripped on the wall and thrown down on the desk. After hearing that there was a boarder spell placed around the entire school, they suspected that Esther had found some new source of power, one more powerful than the broken Bennett line, and that it was going to be difficult to find her. Damon had already offered up a vial of blood from Jeremy, much to Artemis's surprise.

Bonnie sighed, and looked from the map to Damon, who stood far too close for comfort. "Do I have to do this with you two lurking over me?" she deadpanned.

"You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby," Damon replied with a huff, clearly annoyed with Bonnie already. "Let me apologize. I'm sorry Elijah forced us to turn your mother into a vampire to save Elena's life. Didn't exactly have a choice."

"You call that an apology?" Kol snorted, looking from the map to Damon. "Passing the blame off to my brother, saying that there's no choice… There's always a choice. But I guess, the other choice wasn't exactly favorable to you."

"Kol's right," Bonnie agreed. "There's always a choice. It seems like whenever you make one, someone else always suffers."

Nik huffed from his spot on the wall. "Let's cut the dramatics and begin, shall we?" he said in a bored tone, walking over to stand next to the desk.

Bonnie sighed, and uncapped her cork of blood, pouring it onto the map as she began to chant in Latin. The locator spell that she used was a relatively simple incantation, but it became clear that Bonnie was struggling. The muscles in her neck and face tensed, as the blood froze on the map. "Esther's fighting me," she told them, surprised. She looked up to Kol and Artemis.

"There's no way she could have that much power," Kol murmured. "Unless she's channeling something. A supernatural hotspot of sorts." Suddenly, his face went blank, as if something clicked in his brain. "I know exactly where she is."

* * *

Bonnie sat on the edge of the desk, her eyes closed as she delved into the boundary spell that Esther had created. With her powers, she could watch as Esther performed the spell, but only bits and pieces, as the source Esther channeled was too strong to allow for a full image.

"What do you see?" Artemis prompted softly.

"Sage, lavender, and witch's blood," Bonnie replied.

"How was the incantation performed?" Kol asked.

"In Latin…" Bonnie said softly, before gasping. Her mind suddenly produced a spell that she had memorized long ago, one that might be similar enough to the spell used by Esther to create the boarder. In that spell, the backdoor was…

And suddenly, it was gone. The resistance that Esther had been pushing in her direction was gone, and replaced with a bright beacon that seemed to point directly at where the spell's loophole was. Bonnie recited the incantation that her mind had pulled up, and broke through the boundary.

"Something happened," Bonnie whispered. "Esther, the resistance that she put up, it's gone now. She's not fighting me anymore."

"Do not concern yourself with it right now," Artemis urged. "If the spell is broken, then go and find your friend Elena. Kol and I will probably head home. You know where to find us and how to reach us if you need us."

Bonnie nodded, and headed off to go find the Salvatores and Nik, while Kol and Artemis slipped out one of the side doors of the school and into the night.

* * *

"Wake up. Now."

Artemis stirred, lifting her head off of Kol's shoulder. The only light from the room came from the flashing logo of the DVD player, the movie they had enjoyed earlier long since finished. They were comfortable, dressed in their pajamas, with a throw blanket wrapped around their legs. Half-empty tea cups rested on the coffee table.

"Who's that?" Kol murmured, not opening his eyes.

"Damon?" Artemis asked, squinting. "What are you doing here? Who do you have with you?"

Damon stood in their living room, with Bonnie in his arms, blood still flowing from the wounds she had. "It's Bonnie," he replied. Those words seemed to spring Artemis and Kol into action. They both jumped off the couch, tossing their blanket to the side, and allowed Damon to gently settle her on the cushions. "I saw her walking towards this tomb that Ric was locked in, after Esther tried to turn him into a vampire," he said, watching as Artemis and Kol got to work. "He was trying to stop the transition from completing, but she walked in, as if she were in a trance. Next thing I know, I wake up, Ric is gone, and she's bleeding out on the floor of the crypt."

Artemis's hands went to Bonnie's neck, where she had clearly been bitten by Ric. There was a large, gaping hole where the flesh had been torn away, which bled freely down onto the girl's dress. Her fingers outlined the hole smoothly, stimulating the cells that had been broken to begin to repair themselves. Kol tore a strip of fabric off of the bottom of the shirt he was wearing, and wound it around the wound on her hand.

"She's lost a lot of blood," Artemis whispered, as the neck wound slowly began to heal. "She would never accept vampire blood as an aide. Do you still have that potion?"

Kol nodded, and turned to Damon. "Upstairs, third room on the right," he said urgently. "There's a white set of drawers. Top drawer, little blue bottle labeled frëma blödh."

Damon flashed upstairs and back in an instant, the little blue bottle in his hand. Kol uncorked it and dropped a few drops into her mouth. The effect was almost instantaneous. Color returned to the girl's cheeks, as her eyes began to flutter open.

"Bonnie?" Artemis whispered softly. "Are you alright?"

Bonnie only sobbed in response, the memories of her actions from that night flooding back to her. Artemis slid onto the couch and pulled Bonnie up so that her legs were across her lap and her head rested on Artemis's shoulder. Kol sat down next to Artemis, one arm around his wife's shoulders, the other hand rubbing soothing circles on Bonnie's back.

"It's alright now, Bonnie, you're safe here," Kol whispered.

"We're here for you," Artemis murmured. "Take your time, sweetheart. We'll still be here."

Damon left the young witch on the couch, sitting between the succubus and the vampire. In that moment, he knew that he had been right to bring Bonnie here. His heart ached as he turned away from them. There was a part of him that still believed that it could have been him with Artemis. At one point, both of the loves of their lives had disappeared. But Artemis and Kol were a family, something that he still desperately longed to have. And that would always make him jealous.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hello. It is I, back after a very long hiatus. Life happened. I lost time, and subsequently lost inspiration as time passed. Then inspiration struck, as it usually does, in the middle of a particularly busy day when you don't have time to act on it. I somehow managed to hold on to that inspiration and I present to you an updated version of Lilith. As of 22 Dec 2017, all chapters have been updated with edits and revisions. The storyline is mostly the same, with a few small changes that I think makes the story better. Please give it a read, and thank you all for sticking with me for this absurdly long period of time.**

* * *

 _1417, Africa_

 _Artemis and the dark-skinned woman spoke in a tongue that Kol wasn't able to comprehend, but from the looks on their faces, he could tell that the topic of conversation was serious. The other woman raised a knife, which set off a series of alarm bells in his head. She brought the knife across Artemis's wrist, and began to collect the blood that flowed from it._

 _"What are you doing?" Kol asked with alarm, taking a step forward._

 _Artemis held up her hand. "It's fine," she told him. "My blood, the blood of a succubus, holds special properties for witches. In exchange for my blood, we get safety. Atai welcomes you to the village, although with skepticism. If you drink or harm anyone in the village, they will not hesitate to kill you, but if you show interest in their magics, then perhaps you will find a friend in them."_

 _"Their magics?" Kol asked, his brows raised._

 _"They believe we are balanced," Artemis replied. "By taking parts of the life force of others, we make up for our extended lives."_

 _"An interesting take," Kol mused, holding out his arm for Artemis to take. Together, they walked arm and arm into the tiny village._

* * *

When Bonnie woke in the morning, she was alone on Artemis and Kol's couch. She could vaguely remember the details of last night. Damon had brought her here, after she had let Ric bite her. Artemis and Kol had stayed with her all night, on the couch, and held her while she cried. Now, she could hear them laughing from the kitchen. Slowly, she rose from the couch, and made her way to the other room. Music played softly from hidden speakers as Artemis moved about the kitchen, flipping pancakes on the stove. Kol sat on the counter, popping blueberries into his mouth, laughing at something that Artemis had just told him.

"Good morning, Bonnie!" Kol greeted with a smile on his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she admitted, as Artemis set a plate of pancakes down on the table. Bonnie sat down and tentatively took a bite, before deciding that they tasted positively amazing.

"Would you like some bacon too?" Artemis asked. "I'm afraid it's turkey bacon. Kol and I are getting old. We have to watch our arteries."

Bonnie smiled as Kol laughed, and nodded her head. It was strange to see the two of them act so normally, with someone like Alaric on the loose, whose strength rivaled that of the Originals. But there they were, sitting down with her at the kitchen table with their own stacks of pancakes, as if life just kept moving on. She realized that this felt normal, that the two of them were trying to bring as much normalcy as they could to their abnormal existences, and she could appreciate it.

"I should go over to Elena's," Bonnie told them as she finished her stack of pancakes. "They're probably just finding out that Ric has come back."

Artemis nodded. "Of course," she said. "We'll walk over with you."

* * *

The sight of Stefan, Damon, and Nik pacing on the Gilberts's front porch was certainly an interesting one to see as Bonnie, Artemis, and Kol approached the house. It was hard to miss the gaping hole in one of the front windows, or the splintered fence post that Damon had slung over his shoulder.

"Okay, how about Damon sneaks in and distracts Alaric while Stefan grabs Elena and carries her to safety?" they could hear Nik suggest.

"Oh, that's a great idea," Damon retorted sarcastically. "What's to stop me from being killed instantly?"

Both Artemis and Kol could tell that Bonnie was nervous when she stepped forward. "What's going on?" she asked. From the bit of conversation that they had just heard, it sounded as though Elena was with Ric, and Bonnie knew that that was not a good combination.

Stefan looked at her with pity in his eyes, before stepping off of the porch to stand in front of her. "Ric has Elena and Caroline at the school," he told her gently. "Right now, we're trying to figure out a way to stop him and get them back, but Klaus isn't being very helpful." He turned his head to shoot the Original hybrid a look.

Nik grinned. "All I want is my doppelganger, and I'll be on my way," he said lazily. "It's not my fault that my mother's invulnerable little creation is, well, invulnerable."

Kol's brow furrowed. "Brother, you and I both know that a truly immortal creature does not exist," he replied. "Does he not have our same weaknesses?"

"To sunlight, yes," Nik answered. "But our dear sister and Caroline stabbed him with a white oak stake, yet he still lives. You can see why I'm eager to grab my doppelganger and get the hell out of dodge."

An idea dawned on Bonnie, her eyes widening at the realization. "What if there was a way to stop him until we can figure out a way to kill him?" she murmured, causing everyone's attention to snap to her. "The spell my mother used on Mikael…"

"Are you sure?" Stefan asked, a look of concern etched onto his face. "That's some pretty serious dark magic."

Fire flashed in Bonnie's eyes. "I'm sure this is what I want to do, if it keeps Elena and Caroline safe," she bit back, tired of everyone underestimate her power. "All I need to do is call Abby and get the spell from her."

"Just to be clear, the sun sets in eight hours," Nik told her. "If you don't succeed by then, Elena will be dead and I will be gone."

"Then I won't fail," Bonnie stated firmly, meeting Nik's gaze.

* * *

They all knew the plan. On paper, it was simple. Damon, Stefan, Nik, Kol, and Artemis would all attempt to restrain Ric, and allow one of the ones who had drank Bonnie's blood to make a connection to his heart. Kol had tried to protest Artemis's inclusion, but Artemis had shot him a glare.

"I can look after myself," she reminded him. "I'm not about to go back to being helpless."

The five of them snuck in through the south entrance of the school, with Damon and Stefan heading down the science hallway and Nik, Kol, and Artemis taking the foreign language wing. They would end up on either ends of the English/history wing, where Ric's classroom was. There were footsteps, and Nik quickly darted out to snatch Caroline out of the hallway. One of his arms wrapped around her chest, while the other hand went to cover her mouth.

"It's okay, it's okay," he whispered to her, as she struggled feebly against his grasp. "It's me. You're okay. You're safe."

He took his hand away from Caroline's mouth, revealing burns that mimicked a Glasgow smile. Her hands that had clawed at Nik's arms bore holes that seemed to go all the way through, and dripped with blood. Kol could observe the fear in the girl's eyes as Nik gently stroked her hair, as Artemis gently took her hands in her own, working a small dose of healing magic.

"You have vervain in your system," Artemis whispered. "It's blocking some of your healing factors. This should help a little bit, but you need to get some rest."

"We'll save Elena," Nik told her gently, noticing that she almost seemed ready to run back into the fight to save her friend.

"I can't just leave her here," Caroline bit back in a whisper, looking back at Nik. "Not with you."

Kol didn't miss the brief feeling of hurt that flashed across his brother's eyes. "You're wounded," he said quietly. "You need to make yourself your first priority."

"You can't fight this battle right now, love," Nik whispered. "Elena would want you to live."

That statement seemed to ring true with Caroline, as she took a step away from Nik and gave a small nod in understanding. In an instant, she was gone, out to the parking lot, and out to safety, and Nik and Kol snapped their heads in the direction of a sound that Artemis couldn't hear.

Damon and Stefan's bodies lay on the ground in the hall as the three of them rounded the corner and sprung into action. Artemis and Kol were each able to grab Ric's arms, as he snapped at them, while Nik went for the hunter's heart. Artemis and Kol pulled his arms upwards and back, leaving his whole chest exposed as Nik's fingers sunk in with a squelching sound.

But Ric was stronger than they were, and flung them off of his arms, sending Artemis and Kol crashing into lockers on opposite sides of the hallway. Nik, clearly surprised by the turn of events, found his hand ripped out of Ric's chest, before he was flung backwards, crashing into a nearby doorway. In an instant, Ric was on top of him, thrusting the white oak stake down towards Nik's heart, but Nik was quick to stop the stake from going any further, groaning at the immense strength he had to use to keep himself alive.

"Stop!" Elena shouted. "Let him go, or I'll kill myself."

Ric's attention turned to Elena, but only for a second, before it was back to his struggle. "Put it down, Elena," he commanded the teenager calmly.

"Why?" she pressed. "Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one: mine. That way, you have only one lifespan to kill all vampires, and then you'll be gone. So when I die, you die too. That's it. It has to be."

Ric didn't get a chance to answer, as Kol, recently recovered from being knocked unconscious, blindsided Ric with a right hook that knocked him to the other side of the hallway, sending the stake in the opposite direction. Nik scrambled up and after the stake, but Ric was quicker to recover, latching onto Nik's ankle and flinging him in the opposite direction, before preparing to square off with Kol. Neither male noticed Artemis inching towards the stake as they traded blows. It wasn't long before Kol, weakened after being thrown against the lockers, found himself in a headlock, his neck snapped before Ric let him fall to the ground.

That was when he felt the stake pierce his chest, through one of his lungs. Behind him, Artemis quickly muttered a chant that reversed the healing power she had used on Caroline. Instead of enhancing Ric's healing process, she hindered it, delaying his clotting factors and decreasing his pain threshold.

Artemis let out a deep exhale as Ric writhed in pain on the floor, his lungs struggling to draw oxygen. She figured she had at least ten minutes before his body would heal enough to allow him to get up and move. Her back ached from where it had come into contact with the lockers, and her energy felt drained, yet she knew that she had to press on. Kol wouldn't wake for a little while, meaning that she had to drag him the short distance to their home.

"You shouldn't be a part of this, darling," she mimicked. "It's too dangerous for someone like you."

Yet here she was, the living one, at the end of the battle. With the strength that she had left, she lifted Kol off the ground and into a fireman's carry. His arms swung limply as she trudged to the parking lot, straining under the weight of her husband.

* * *

He woke with a groan, not out of pain, but out of remembrance for what he had told his wife before the fight. She sat not too far from him, reading _War and Peace_ , and sipping on a cup of tea. Their eyes met, and she smirked. Clearly, she remembered what he had said to her as well. Kol grabbed the two blood bags she had placed on the coffee table next to the couch he lay on, and downed them quickly.

"Didn't want to take me up to bed, darling?" he asked playfully, draining the last drops of O pos from the second bag.

Artemis snorted. "I healed Caroline, got thrown against the lockers, prevented Ric from healing, and then dragged your dead ass all the way back here," she deadpanned, peering over the top of her book. "Plus, I made sure you were on the couch, instead of the floor, and that you had blood bags when you woke up."

"Look, Artemis, if this is about before, I'm sorry," he told her, shifting his position so he could sit on the couch. "I've just seen you get hurt a lot since I woke up, and I don't like seeing the people that I care about get hurt."

She closed her book, and set it down on her lap. "Look, Kol, I know that you care, and I know that you're trying to look out for me, and I appreciate it, I really do," she said. "But you have to remember that I was alive for thousands of years before I met you. I know how to pick my battles wisely."

"I trust you," he replied, rising to his feet and moving to stand in front of her. He held out his hands for her to take, and pulled her into his arms. "I trust you completely, but as your husband, I'm going to keep worrying. It's the only thing I can do."

"I love you," she whispered against his shoulder.

"And I love you," he murmured.

"I have something to tell you," she said, pulling back slightly in his grasp so she could look up at him. "The principal of Mystic Falls High School called while you were out. Apparently, they're in need of an emergency long term substitution, as Alaric Saltzman has informed them that he can no longer keep the position. I'm the new history teacher, and guaranteed an interview for the position when it formally opens up."

"That's amazing!" Kol exclaimed, beaming at her. "Mrs. Artemis Mikealson, history teacher at Mystic Falls High School.

"Mmmmm I like the sound of that," Artemis hummed, closing her eyes.

Kol grinned. "Yes, Mrs. Mikealson," he whispered in a seductive tone, before sweeping her off her feet and carrying her upstairs.

* * *

They woke in the early morning to the sound of knocking on their front door.

"Were you expecting anyone?" Artemis mumbled, wiggling out of Kol's grasp.

"No," was his quiet reply. His eyes slowly opened as he pulled himself into a sitting position, and watched as Artemis pulled on a pair of spandex shorts and a sweatshirt. "That outfit, darling…"

She smirked, grabbed a pair of sweatpants out of the closest open drawer, and threw them at him. "Put some pants on, Mr. Mikaelson."

Artemis left the room and bounded down the stairs, just as whoever was at the door knocked again. She threw it open and was surprised to see Elijah, Finn, Sage, and Rebekah standing on the other side.

"Who is it… oh" Kol stopped short at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes widening as he took in the appearance of his family standing on the doorstep.

Elijah was the first to speak. "We need to talk," he stated simply.

Artemis stepped aside, and gestured for everyone to enter. "I'll put on the kettle."


	10. Chapter 10

"When Rebekah called me and told me that Alaric Saltzman had been turned by our mother, she sounded serious," Elijah told them as they settled around the table. "When she called again to say that Niklaus was missing, I called Finn, and we came back as quickly as we could."

It was interesting to see all of the siblings from the Mikaelson family, save for Nik, sitting around the kitchen table, Artemis thought to herself as the kettle began to whistle. Elijah sat at one end of the table, while Rebekah sat at the other. Finn and Sage sat opposite of Kol and the empty chair that Artemis would soon occupy.

"Nik was in the middle of packing everything up to leave," Rebekah explained. "He was going to get the doppelganger, and be on his way. I came back, just before sunset, to make sure that he was gone, only to find that his house was a mess and he was gone."

"We came up with a plan to stop Alaric," Kol told them, looking around at all of his siblings. "Bonnie's mum did this spell on Mikael years ago that dessicated him. Bonnie did the same spell tonight, only the aim was to dessicate mother's new creation."

Artemis frowned. "Nik got out," she stated. "He got out of the school, and took Elena with him."

Rebekah copied her frown. "But that doesn't make any sense," she said. "I've known Nik for years. He would never travel to a new place without his art collection. He's far too selfish to go without them."

There was silence as Artemis passed out tea cups and poured the hot water. Normally, she brewed her tea loose leaf, since she and Kol had come to enjoy the same blends. But when company was present, she kept a stash of a variety of different blends in one of the cupboards, so that she could offer whatever suited her guests' fancies. As she put her kettle back down on the stove, her phone chimed.

 _The dessication spell worked. Not on Ric, but Klaus. Elena is finally safe. – Bonnie_

"I know where Nik is," Artemis said quietly, looking from her phone to the family in front of here. All five pairs of eyes were fixed on her as she made her way to sit at the table. "Bonnie's dessication spell was performed on Nik for some reason, instead of Ric. If I know Damon, he's probably already on his way to the Atlantic Ocean to toss him in."

Rebekah's chair scraped the floor as she abruptly stood. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked, a dangerous smile dancing across her lips. "Let's go pay the doppelganger wench a visit. Threaten her, and they'll return Nik's body to us."

"For once, I agree with Barbie," Sage said, rising as well. "Let's strong arm 'em. I've been looking for a reason to pick a fight with the Salvatores since I came back to town."

"Sage, we can't walk into this fight with our fists raised," Finn told her, gently placing his hand on her elbow. "While I agree that we should get Nik back, we can't fight them to do it. Not if mother's creation is still out there. We can't afford to draw more attention to ourselves than we already have."

"Finn is right," Elijah agreed. "Alaric is probably under the impression that every Original sibling, save for Niklaus and Kol, has left town. We need to operate as under the radar as possible."

Rebekah's eyes narrowed as she looked at her older brother. "Then what do you suggest, oh noble one?"

"A trade," Elijah said simply. "Elena Gilbert has become the object of Niklaus's desire, and it has taken a toll on her and her friends, and getting him out of their life has been their number one priority. Perhaps we should collect Niklaus and scatter, as we have done many times before."

"I like this plan," Finn agreed with a nod. "Our dear brother kept a dagger in my chest for nine hundred years, and never once had one stuck in his own. Perhaps it is time for him to have a taste of his own medicine." He turned to look at Sage. "And we would be free to travel the world, anywhere you want to go, together."

Sage smiled softly. "I'd quite like that, Finn."

"I have no problem with leaving him in a coffin for a little while," Kol said. "Although, Artemis and I will probably stay around here for a little while. She's replacing Alaric as the new history teacher at Mystic Falls High School. Perhaps I will also take this time to take a page out of my wife's book, and go back to school as well. I've heard Whitmore College has an excellent education program."

They all turned to Rebekah expectantly, waiting to see if she would agree or not. "Have all of you forgotten that Nik is our brother?" she asked, her eyes wide with shock. "What kind of siblings would we be if we just left him to rot?"

"We're not going to let him for forever, Rebekah," Elijah told her sternly. "Just until Elena's human life has passed, and her childrens' lives have passed, to make it harder for Niklaus to track down the next doppelganger. We are still a family, Rebekah, and we will forgive Niklaus's actions, but we would also like to see him endure the pain that we have all endured on his behalf."

Rebekah scowled and crossed her arms. She knew that her siblings were right, but that didn't mean that it had to sit well with her. "Fine," she grumbled. "But if a single one of them steps out of line, then the deal is off."

The rest of the siblings and their significant others nodded in agreement, while Elijah sighed deeply. "That's fair," he relented, before standing. "I'll go over to the Gilbert house, and present our terms. You will all remain here until I do."

"Oh, come on brother, what did you think we were gonna do?" Kol said with a chuckle. "Stand menacingly outside the Gilbert house the whole time?"

"I think that's exactly what he thought was going to happen," Artemis whispered as Elijah glared at his younger brother.

* * *

That night changed everything.

It is perhaps easiest to begin with the death of Niklaus. Upon hearing the news, Kol and Finn both stilled, solemn expressions on their faces. It was no secret that if the two of them had favorite siblings, Nik was not among them. After being forced into and held in a state of limbo between life and death for so long at the hands on their hybrid half-brother had caused some serious deterioration in their relationship. Finn had nodded stiffly when he heard the news, his jaw clenched, before turning and leaving. Sage trailed behind him, saying goodbye for them as they left, unsure of how Finn would process the news.

Elijah was stoic as well, as stoicism seemed to be a familial trait. While Nik had indeed at time taken him for granted, the middle of the Mikealson brothers still recalled the "always and forever" oath that he had once sworn. He was angry, upset at the betrayal of the Salvatore brothers, and his mother for her part in bringing about their demise. But he was also angry with himself, for not forseeing the scenario that ended this way. He too took his leave, before his dark side emerged to seek revenge on those who had helped facilitate Nik's death.

Rebekah was very clearly distraught when she returned, but, unlike her older brother, relished in the response that her dark side created. She acted on the emotional reaction that came from her brother's death, and went to go, what Artemis assumed, as something very impulsive and stupid. There was no stopping her, or talking her down. Nik had been the one constant thing in her life, the only thing that she could rely on, and now he was gone.

Kol hadn't said a word since hearing the news in the woods, and he and Artemis walked back to their house in silence. As Artemis always did, she supported Kol in every way that she was able. She knew that he had experienced a loss like this before, when the youngest Mikealson brother, Henrik, had been killed.

"I should feel bad, but I don't," Kol suddenly spoke from the kitchen table where he sat. Artemis's head shot up to look at him. He sighed. "He was my brother, and I should feel something over his death, but I'm struggling to. After mother turned us, our relationship went sour, and after everything he's done recently…" He trailed off, his hands fidgeting on the table as he tried to voice his thoughts.

"After everything that's happened recently, you feel as though you no longer know him," Artemis whispered, taking one of his hands in her own. "The brother that you had as a child was not the same brother you've had as an adult."

He nodded. Somehow, she knew the exact thoughts that were in his head before he did.

"I know it seems like a struggle to reconcile the two," she continued. "He's not the same person that he used to be, but that's okay. People change. But he's still, deep down, the same person he once was. Perhaps it wasn't on the surface, but the person he once was still existed somewhere."

Kol was silent for a moment. "We had some good times together as children," he whispered hoarsely.

"Come on, let's head upstairs to bed," she said softly, before helping him rise to his feet. She could sense that the waves of sadness were crashing down on him, even if his expression never changed, and that out of the two of them, he would likely not get much sleep that night. All Artemis could do was hold him close.

* * *

The next morning, Artemis woke to pounding on the door. Kol was still fast asleep, his head resting on her chest while her arms wrapped around him. It had taken him a while to fall asleep, and she felt guilty as she slid out from under him to answer the door. She was surprised to see Bonnie and Jeremy on the other side, although it appeared that Jeremy was equally surprised to see her.

"Bonnie, Jeremy, come in," Artemis greeted with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Elena's in transition," Bonnie stated, taking a step inside. "We want to know how to stop it, so she can go back to living a normal human life. She didn't ask for this, and she doesn't want this, so we want to know how to stop it."

Artemis frowned as she ushered them into the living room. "How did this happen?" she asked, confused. As far as she knew, Elena had been human last night, as she had tried to race back to Mystic Falls to see Stefan.

"Rebekah caused Matt to drive off the edge of the Wickery bridge," Jeremy told her. "Elena died with Damon's blood in her system."

Artemis sat down on the couch, looking between the two teens that stood in front of her, her mind racing through everything she knew about vampires in transition. "I've heard of attempts to reverse the transition process, but none of them have been successes," she stated quietly. "When a vampire is in transition, they exist for about a day in between life and death. Her soul has been divided in two. One half is in this realm, with her body, and the other half is on the Other Side. The end of the transition will determine where her soul will end up. If she feeds on human blood and completes the transition, then her soul will return to her body. If she does not feed, then her soul will join the Other Side."

"Then what can we do?" Bonnie pressed. "What can I do?"

"The only way that I can imagine that the transition process can be reversed is to somehow find a way to reunite Elena's soul in her human body," Artemis said carefully. "But you have to be careful, Bonnie. The magic that one has to tap into to give life to those who have died is one of the darkest magics to exist. Even attempting to perform a spell like this will not come without consequences. Are you prepared to accept the consequences that the spirits enforce?"

Jeremy looked at Bonnie expectantly, waiting for her to make her choice. After a moment or two of silent internal debate, Bonnie nodded slowly. "I am prepared to accept the consequences, whatever they are, if it means that my best friend stays human," she stated slowly.

"You're a very powerful witch, Bonnie," Artemis said, rising to her feet. "Remember that even with all the power you possess, some things just aren't possible to do. But if anyone can do this, you can."

Bonnie nodded. "Thanks, Artemis," she whispered, before looking at Jeremy. "Come on, Jer. We have work to do."

Artemis released the breath she had been holding as the two teenagers left, shutting the door behind them. While she believed that Bonnie had admirable intentions, keeping her friend safe from harm, she knew that reversing the vampire curse was a fool's errand. As she headed back to the kitchen to begin making herself something to eat, a knock once again came to the door. Apparently, today was the day for visitors.

The men on the other side of the door were unfamiliar to her. She supposed that they were people from the town that she had yet to meet, but she smiled anyway. "Good morning," Artemis greeted. "Is there something I can do for you?"

The man with the clerical collar seemed to be their leader, as he reached out and gently put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you Artemis Mikealson?" he asked softly, his eyes seeming to pity her. She nodded slowly, and he smiled. "My name is Pastor Young, and I'm here to rescue you."

Artemis was startled, and took a step back. "Rescue me?" she asked. "I don't need rescuing."

Pastor Young sighed. "It's worse than we thought," he said, turning to the men behind him. "He's compelled her to believe that she loves him."

The men from behind advanced on Artemis, the butts of their rifles raised as she continued to back away from them. "Wait, there must be some kind of confusion here," she said quickly.

"I'm sorry," she heard Pastor Young say before one of the men swung his rifle at the side of her head and knocked her to the ground.

* * *

He could hear the incessant wailing of sirens as he came to, his head pounding and body aching. Kol could still feel that they had forgotten to remove one of the wooden bullets in his abdomen, as it occasionally scraped up against his ribs. The vervain-soaked ropes that bound his wrists bit angrily into his skin, causing him to hiss every time he moved. At least neither of the two people in front of him were Artemis. As long as she wasn't here, she was probably safe.

His sister and Caroline sat across from him, tied with their own ropes. Caroline met his eyes sadly, and he gave a small nod to indicate that he was fine, before they both turned to look at Rebekah. It was hard for him to watch his younger sister struggle against the ropes that held her, fighting blindly to free herself.

"Vervain ropes," Caroline whispered as Rebekah cried out in agony. Rebekah stilled, and turned to look at Caroline, surprise on her face. "Looks like Alaric outed us to the council."

"The council…" Rebekah whispered with bewilderment, shaking her head and looking to Kol. "What exactly do they think they can do to us?"

Kol could hear the gunning of the engine before he felt the impact of the rougue car on the side of whatever van they were being held in. The impact came before his answer, knocking the van onto its side. Glass from the windows shattered into tiny projectiles, lacerating his cheek as the shards flew freely in the air. When the vehicle came to a rest, he was suspended in the air, held by the ropes wrapped around his wrists, torso, and ankles, looking down at Rebekah and Caroline.

Rebekah coughed and groaned. "What the hell happened?" she nearly shouted.

One of the doors from the back of the van was ripped off its hinges, causing all three van occupants to turn their heads. The head of a male was revealed, before he dipped down to rip off the other door and crawled inside. Kol had never seen this individual before in his life.

Caroline simply looked confused. "Tyler?" she asked, as the stranger knelt down to undo the ropes that bound her.

The new figure grinned. "I'm harder to kill than you think," he told her with a grin.

The sound of sirens grew closer as he continued his work, while Caroline was still stunned. "You're alive?" Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Tyler, you're alive!"

"No time," he said urgently as he broke the last rope and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, we have to go."

Rebekah looked between her brother and Tyler. "Wait, what about us?" she asked, fear edging into her voice.

As Caroline sped off, Tyler leaned back into the truck, a grin on his face. "Keep them busy, little sister, little brother," he said, before disappearing.

Rebekah's eyes widened as she renewed her struggle against the ropes. "That's impossible!" she screeched, but when the brakes of the squad car squealed, and the deputy appeared in the doorway of the van, she went still. A single tear fell from her cheek.

Kol himself was having some difficulty processing the news of his younger brother somehow having taken over the body of another being. "It's going to be okay, Bekah," he whispered as the deputies began to argue. He could see her nod as the tears began to flow from her eyes, as if she believed him. But Kol knew that in that moment, her heart had broken. Their brother had chosen his unrequited love over his family. Even if he told her that it was going to be okay, he had a hard time believing it himself.

* * *

Kol had heard that inhaling vervain felt like inhaling razor blades. He had once come across a vampire named Juliette, who had been nearly tortured to death by her parents, who had told him the most unpleasant stories about vervain he had ever heard. He had always felt that as an Original vampire, he was safe from all of the awful things that could happen to vampires, but he was wrong. They were blowing vervain pollen everywhere in whatever place they were being held.

He tried to make his breathing shallow, to minimize the pain and damage that the vervain pollen was causing. He could hear his sister breathing in the cell next to his, and Stefan breathing in the cell diagonal to him. Both breathed as shallowly as Kol did, feeling the awful effects of vervain in their system.

The only person he could hear breathe normally was Elena, who had just recently been thrown in the cell across from him. Kol frowned as he watched them deposit her body on the dirty floor of the cattle pen. Was she not human, like the hunters who had come for him that morning? Her heart still beat normally, and she still smelled human, but yet, she seemed weaker and more pathetic than other humans.

"I thought I killed you," Rebekah called from her cell as the girl began to move.

It all made sense in Kol's head then. If Rebekah had killed her, then it would have happened last night, almost twenty-four hours prior. The poor girl probably hadn't had the chance to feed on human blood. The reason she looked weak was probably because she hadn't yet completed her transition.

"Where am I?" Elena whispered hoarsely, her body slowly pulling itself into a sitting position. She glanced around the dirty barn that they were in, her eyes lingering on Kol for a split second before moving to Rebekah.

"They thought you were a vampire, so they stuck you in here with us," Rebekah grumbled, before coughing. Talking invited more air, and more vervain, into the lungs, and coughing got it out."

"She's not a vampire yet, Bekah," Kol murmured from the other cell.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked, ignoring the two siblings. Her only concern was that Stefan was still okay.

"Elena, I'm right here," Stefan said from the floor of his cell. "Are you okay?"

"Stefan!" the girl cried, trying to scramble to her feet. Her hands grasped at the bars as she tried to tug herself up, but her strength failed her and she collapsed, coughing with the exertion. "I need to feed," she whispered.

Kol could almost hear the grin that broke out across Rebekah's face as she watched the girl that she hated struggle. "You died with vampire blood in your system and you didn't feed and now you're locked up in here without a drop of human blood in sight," she said smugly. "That is a problem. If my math is correct, you have just about three hours to feed before I get to watch you die."

"You don't have to be cruel, sister," Kol chastised from his cell as Elena began to feebly rattle the bars of her cell. "I'm sure that the Salvatores have a very good reason for not helping Elena feed the moment she woke up."

Stefan sighed, and ran his hand over his face. "We were hoping that Bonnie would find some way to reverse the spell so that Elena could remain human," he mumbled.

"Huh," Kol replied. "I take it back. You know that there has never been a successful reversal of an immortality spell that resulted in a restoration of humanity. Entire covens have banded their magic together and failed."

"At least she tried," Elena whispered.

Kol nodded in a agreement. "Yes, at least she did."

* * *

Artemis's eyes opened slowly as her head pounded. She was sure that there was at least a bruise, if not more damage, where the butt of the rifle had connected with her head. Her surroundings were completely unfamiliar to her. She was lying on a twin bed in a room that seemed to belong to a younger girl, in a house she didn't recognize. Closing her eyes for another moment, she focused on listening to her surroundings. Just faintly, she could hear the sound of a kettle whistling.

With a groan, she pulled herself into a sitting position, and waited for the pounding in her head to subside before standing carefully. She walked slowly to the door of the room and pushed it open. There was no one on the other side, no one to stand guard. Artemis turned the corner towards the place where the kettle was whistling, and was surprised to see only a single man in the house's small kitchen.

The pastor looked up from the steak he had been carving, and smiled at her. "Artemis, right?" he asked warmly. "I apologize for taking you in the way that we did, but it was the only way that we could be sure you were safe from that vampire's clutches."

She took a step closer to him, a dark expression crossing her face. "What have you done to him?" Artemis asked slowly, her fists curling.

"Like I told you, we're rescuing you," Pastor Young answered simply. "The vampire has corrupted your mind and spirit. With his death, you will be free."

"You listen here, and you listen good," she growled, grasping him by his collar and raising him to his feet. It felt like a small victory when she saw a flicker of fear flash across his eyes. "If he dies, I die, but not before you and every one of your little friends do."

"Very well," the pastor answered, a grim expression coming over his face. "I can see now that his influence over you is too great. If you want to be with that monster, then who am I to stand in the way?"

She heard the gunfire before she felt it, the wooden bullets peppering her back, before she finally fell to the darkness of death. The pastor looked down at the girl on the floor with a frown on his face. A necessary casualty in the war for the greater good, he reminded himself, before ordering his guards to drag her in and reunite her with the vampire that she so desperately yearned for.

* * *

The two guards dragged Artemis's body into the barn, not caring that the knees of her pajama bottoms scraped against the dirty concrete floor. Stefan paused as he watched the woman being taken past his cell, the agony from the bullet holes temporarily forgotten as he wondered why they would bring a non-vampire into the barn. One guard opened the door of Kol's cell slightly, while keeping his weapon trained on the vampire in the corner, who had suddenly scrambled to his feet at his wife's appearance. The second guard roughly shoved Artemis inside, barely giving Kol enough time to catch her before she hit the ground.

"She insisted on being here," one of the guards growled. "You convinced her to throw her life away, so her punishment is to wait here, with you, until you get hungry enough to drain her blood."

Kol snarled at the guards, but didn't look at them. Instead, he used whatever speed he had to pull all of the bullets from her wounds. Eight wooden bullets dropped to the floor in the time that it took one of the guards to change the vervain. The first guard then left, presumably to grab another vampire that they had found. Kol rested his wife's head on his lap, and ran his fingers through her hair. He could tell that her body was beginning to heal, as her chest had just started to move again.

"Excuse me?" he could hear Rebekah call hoarsely. "Hello? Sir?" She broke into a renewed fit of coughing that Kol could sense was fake.

The guard loaded his gun with a click, before whirling around to face Rebekah. "I thought I told you to shut up," he growled.

"Here's the thing, my family, we have money," Rebekah continued. "Castles, apartments, jewelry. Just name your price, and let me and my brother go."

"You're married," Kol added from the cell next door. He had noticed the man's wedding band when he had thrown Artemis in the cell. "Come on, what wife wouldn't love an anniversary trip to the Caribbean, all expenses paid?"

As the man took a few steps towards Kol's cell, Kol gently laid Artemis on the ground, preparing to strike. The man looked down at Kol with a dark expression. "I'd much rather watch you die," he replied angrily.

The man's mistake was coming too close to the bars of Kol's cell. In a flash, Kol was nose-to-nose with him, causing him to side-step, startled. Rebekah's face frightened him as well, the distended veins and enhanced canines causing him to stumble backwards. He hadn't experienced a vampire face up close before, and seeing the inhumanity that appeared on their faces was enough to throw him off his game. But then Stefan reached out, as the man approached his cell, and bashed the guard's head off the bars, before tossing his body in Elena's direction.

Kol watched with baited breath as the nearly dead girl struggled to reach the pool of blood that was slowly growing towards her. As much of her arm as possible stretched out between the bars, her fingers scrabbling for the red liquid that oozed towards her. He silently cheered for her as her fingertips finally touched, and slowly brought the red liquid to her mouth. For a brief moment, he thought that she was just too late, and his heart fell.

But then, Elena Gilbert's eyes snapped open.


End file.
